Would A 'Bracket' Style Tournament Work?

[EastStandBlue]

Inspired by March Madness and the almost traditional mundane nature of the Carling Cup, Do you think that a bracket tournament would work in English football?

Simply draw up the bracket, similar to this one:

Have an initial draw for the 64 teams (44 from the top two tiers, 20 qualifiers from the bottom two) and then simply have the tournament run down. Not only do I think it'd work, but it would differentiate the Carling Cup, which has almost become meaningless for the Premier League, from other tournaments and allow a rebranding of the competition.

It would also increase the interest in the tournament. One of the highlights of March Madness is negotiating your own bracket and seeing how it fares against what comes to pass.

There are a lot of things that American sports are a whole lot more organised in than us... I think they do a far better job of remembering sporting greats with statues and retired jersey numbers. I also think that the Premier League would benefit from an All-Star Weekend in December, I actually think this bracket style of tournament would be a huge success on these shores too...

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Interesting idea.

Would you draw it or seed it based on league finishes the previous season?

 

[EastStandBlue]

I wouldn't seed it.

I think you need to have that random element to keep it interesting... Otherwise it would just be the Premiership teams playing eachother in the last 16. You're also restricting the smaller clubs a chance of meeting one of the money-spinning games.

 

[Ron Manager]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a knockout competition but with early rounds on a regional basis?

Which is pretty much what the LDV/Football League Trophy/whatever it's called nowadays is at the moment. Hardly a radical change is it?

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a knockout competition but with early rounds on a regional basis?

Which is pretty much what the LDV/Football League Trophy/whatever it's called nowadays is at the moment. Hardly a radical change is it?

I don't think it was so much the regionalisation he was proposing, but the bracket. In the US March Madness is a huge thing with everyone (and I mean everyone, even autistic kids and the President) filling out their predictions all the way through to the final winner. I think it is this aspect of it ESB is championing, as a marketing tool where the FL encourage everyone to fill out their predictions, which then gets people to actually pay attention to the results, as they want to see if they got their bracket right. When Southend then beat Man U, it ruins loads of people's predictions who had Man U going all the way.

I think it would be a very astute piece of marketing which could revive a flagging competition.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a knockout competition but with early rounds on a regional basis?

Which is pretty much what the LDV/Football League Trophy/whatever it's called nowadays is at the moment. Hardly a radical change is it?

Difference being you know who you are going to get; no draw after each round.

Regarding the NCAA bracket, my bet on Kentucky at 7/2 is looking nice now they are in to the Elite Eight and with Kansas and Syracuse gone :clap:

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Difference being you know who you are going to get; no draw after each round.

Regarding the NCAA bracket, my bet on Kentucky at 7/2 is looking nice now they are in to the Elite Eight and with Kansas and Syracuse gone :clap:

Go Big Blue.

 

[EastStandBlue]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that just a knockout competition but with early rounds on a regional basis?

Which is pretty much what the LDV/Football League Trophy/whatever it's called nowadays is at the moment. Hardly a radical change is it?

As YB says, it's not so much of a radical change as it is a simple re-jig of how the tournament was drawn, allowing people to get excited about the tournament for a longer period time. NCAA Brackets are all everybody talks about during late Feb/early March in the US, and it honestly can't understand why it hasn't been picked up by the marketing giants on these shores.

Regarding the NCAA bracket, my bet on Kentucky at 7/2 is looking nice now they are in to the Elite Eight and with Kansas and Syracuse gone :clap:

I've gone for Ohio State, but speaking of Kansas, what a game Faroukmanesh had.