The UEFA Cup is Dead, Long Live the UEFA Cup

Yeah yeah, I know I should refer to it as the Europa League nowadays, and that is my point. Seems to me like this whole UEFA rebranding thing has just made people, or atleast journalists and managers, think even less of it in this country, which is wrong, because the UEFA cup is one of the greatest competitions on earth.

Okay, first off in my defence; it was better as a straight knock out. No denying that. But apart from a largely superflous group stage, it is great.

Football is about more than the big four, way more. Supporting Newcastle, I have first hand experience of UEFA cup fandom. For teams like we used to be it is great. We got to a European semi final for christs sake! The excitement and nerves and banter surrounding the game with Marseille built up for days. 0-0 at home, could we get the away goal? Could we beat Valencia? Newcastle vs. Valencia in Gothenburg. The level of excitement and inevitable heartbreak that that UEFA cup run supplied was incredable. Just ask a Boro fan. You don't get that battling for sixth and seventh in the premiership Harry Redknapp. I know. The league is only exciting when you are a glorious underdog with Bobby Robson in charge and you nearly actually win the thing. What it must be like to be a Wolfsburg or Verona fan, when the boys actually pull it off, i can only dream off. And even if you don't win it you get to have Liverpool's champions league place, which you can then throw away against Partizan Belgrade.

And that is another good thing about the 'second tier' trophy. Big games take place outside of England and Spain. I was in Prague when the Sparta vs. Dinamo Zagreb game was on last season, and people were talking. People were excited. So people were also expecting violence, but that ain't the tournaments fault. HSV against Bremen in the semi final last year, HUGE. A freind is from Bremen and he described there win as up there with winning the Bundesliga. Damn I wish I came from Bremen. Dynamo Kiev vs. Shaktar in the other semi. That must have been massive in Ukraine. European games rule, and the UEFA cup gives fans huge, historical, romantic games that wouldn't exist in the Champions League. I would rather of watched either UEFA semi last year. Having said that, watching Chelsea-Barca just down the road from The Bridge was a good laugh.

Football is about excitement, and the UEFA provided that in spades (Cliche-tastic this). And any tournament that gives St Patricks a chance to play in the Olympiastadium is fine by me.

Long live the Europa League