UEFA Europa Conference League Final Fiorentina v West Ham ** spoilers ** [Wednesday 7th June 2023 @ 8pm]

Caporegime
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When UEFA created the conference League it was widely mocked, mostly be me to be fair, but it gives an opportunity for clubs like West Ham to have moments like this which they wouldn't have a chance of having before.

Agreed it has been a fantastic watch. Happy for the Hammers.

I am sure Spurs fans would die for a moment like this.

Also more importantly this puts Westham in the Europa next season.
 
Don
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Agreed it has been a fantastic watch. Happy for the Hammers.

I am sure Spurs fans would die for a moment like this.

Also more importantly this puts Westham in the Europa next season.
Which is good for the PL as a whole. The two best performing Leagues in Europe next season get an extra CL spot for the 24/25 season so having an extra PL side in Europe will give us more points.

edit: turns out it's actually bad for the PL. The extra CL spot is given to the League who pick up the highest average per team.
 
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Don
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Cup winners cup was a lot more prestigious imo. More of a half way between Champions League and Europa League. Regardless of how you qualify for this tournament.
The Cup Winners Cup/Conference League and UEFA Cup/Europa League have both been diluted by the expansion of the Champions League.

The Conference League is just a rebrand of the old Cup Winners Cup but because we have 4 CL spots and one of those typically wins the domestic Cup competition, the Conference League spot goes to the League. 20+ years ago, when there wasn't such a big CL, you had very good sides playing in both the Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup.
 
Man of Honour
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When UEFA created the conference League it was widely mocked, mostly be me to be fair, but it gives an opportunity for clubs like West Ham to have moments like this which they wouldn't have a chance of having before.

It hurts the prestige though, they can't keep adding more and more tournaments so everyone can participate :p
 
Caporegime
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The Cup Winners Cup/Conference League and UEFA Cup/Europa League have both been diluted by the expansion of the Champions League.

The Conference League is just a rebrand of the old Cup Winners Cup but because we have 4 CL spots and one of those typically wins the domestic Cup competition, the Conference League spot goes to the League. 20+ years ago, when there wasn't such a big CL, you had very good sides playing in both the Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup.

Yeah that is what I was trying to get at. Cup winners cup was a big achievement before as you had plenty of top teams in it before it got diluted by the champs league in the mid 90's.

Villa must be thinking about this now. Forget about the league and concentrate on winning this comp for Europa football. It almost has old school vibes about it for me.
 
Don
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It hurts the prestige though, they can't keep adding more and more tournaments so everyone can participate :p
I don't think West Ham fans care right now. Barring maybe Spurs, I'm not sure there are many clubs that would turn their noses up at the chance to play in Europe that aren't already playing in a higher level competition.

For the same reason I hope a compromise with the League Cup is found where sides that qualify for Europe don't enter or field U21 sides. It'll help ease the calendar issues we have (and will get worse) and also give an opportunity for certain other clubs to win a trophy.
 
Soldato
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Looks like a few Fiorentina mobs gave some of the young hammer Stone Island crew a bit of a fright tonight judging by videos on social media. That'll learn 'em :D

Pleased for them though, great result. Bit mad you can win European cups whilst flirting with relegation for 90% of the season. Credit to my favourite ex sunderland manager for that.
 
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