Famously we have the likes of Swansea, Cardiff, Wrexham and Newport County plying their trade in the English football league system even though they reside in Wales. These clubs applied and exceptions were made to allow them to compete in a different football league to their own. This has come with positive results with all four of these clubs being at the professional level in England.

Both Swansea and Cardiff have actually reached the promised land of the Premier League with Swansea even going that step further by winning the league cup resulting in a European adventure, led by the talismanic Michu.

All positive results then? Well yes. But perhaps not for Wales itself. They have lost their best clubs to the English and have since struggled to keep pace with their noisy neighbours. The Welsh football league fails in comparison to that of the English game. A number of clubs may have been allowed to cross the border but it has been stated that a merger would not happen between the nations. Something that could be happening elsewhere in Europe.

Heading To The Baltics

Often overlooked, we head over to the Baltics. The nations in question are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three nations bordering each other, but three nations that don’t often get spoken about in a footballing context. That anonymity could be about to change.

With all three nations being within 16 places of each other in the FIFA world rankings (as of 11/11/25) you can see that the talent is pretty even across the borders. Not only are the nationals’ teams similar but the league systems have similarities as well. All three nations have a top flight that consists of just 10 teams, and all play 36 games before a champion is crowned.

However, there are some slight differences when you look a little closer. Lithuania, for example, have FK Žalgiris. The Vilnius based side are the dominant force in the country since the league’s reformation in 1991. In fact, not only do they hold the most league titles but they have also had the league’s top goals scorer in each of the last nine seasons.

It’s a somewhat similar story in the Latvian Virsliga. Riga and RFS are the dominant clubs and have won seven of the last eight league titles between them. Again, a similar story in Estonia. Flora Tallin and FCI Levadia are serial winners of the title. Why though are things looking to be changed?

A big challenge these nations have is being competitive in European competition. In simple terms, they are not competitive. Not once has a team from any of these nations reached the Champions League stage, and with Pafos of Cyprus and Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan doing so this year, why not?

The Proposal

Many people believe that the individual leagues just are not competitive enough. All too often they are seeing the same champions and the same small number of clubs reach European qualifying. How will this change?

With the proposal of a Baltic Football League perhaps? This seems to be the plan on the cards at least. Still in its infancy the idea has been thrown around with the hope to develop Baltic football and become more competitive in Europe. The big teams always beat the smaller teams and only really drop points to those around them. What if though, the big teams played the other big teams from their neighbours? More competitive football, resulting in increased development and perhaps increased success on the European stage.

The Reaction

The idea has come with quite positive reaction. The Baltic nations are all very similar and for many people they do not see too many negatives to the proposal. The three nations are very close economically, socially and culturally. Even travel and logistics between the nations aren’t difficult says Maksims Krivunecs, the president of the Virsliga, Latvia’s top flight. The RFS director of football, Aleksandrs Usovs, agrees. He stated that they wanted stronger competition and the best clubs from Estonia and Lithuania can give them that.

With such positive responses it is becoming more viable that we will see a Baltic Football League. The league plan though can be a bit confusing for those looking at it for the very first time.

The Format

The three leagues will remain the same during the early stages of the season. Ten teams in each league but this time only playing each other twice for an 18 game domestic league opening. The top four from each league then qualify for the cross-border Baltic League with the remaining six from each league going into the ‘Relegation’ group of which they will play each other twice more in their domestic nation.

In the cross-border Baltic League the twelve qualified teams will retain the points they earnt against the other qualified teams from their nations. Points won against the teams in the ‘Relegation’ group will be removed. In this group each team will play each of the other countries’ top four twice. From there the best team from each nation become national champions and are rewarded with the place in the Champions League Qualifiers. With the best place finisher also being crowned the Baltic Champion. Also, the second best team from each nation will qualify for UEFA competition, which one though is dependent on UEFA rankings.

The final twist in this proposed league system is that the third placed finisher from each nation will go into a playoff against the highest place finishers of the ‘Relegation’ group. The winner of this will also be rewarded with a European place.

Final Thoughts

Is this a good idea then? From what has been suggested and the ideas in place, why not? Better competition for the runaway leaders of each nation would more than likely result in a better quality of football because the competition is much more difficult. The nations themselves have close relations and it seems as several board and committee members from the clubs and the leagues themselves are going to back this project.

Perhaps it will take some time to fine tune the project but if it results in a Baltic club challenge in Europe and perhaps have a club reach the Champions League League Phase then surely it’s only a positive.

Written and Researched by BSc Cavan Campbell

The Cross-Border Football League

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