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“That’s out of my hands,” said Clanachan. “But around the country, we have lots of interest because people see the opportunity.”

When I asked if he felt they could get to a dozen-plus franchises fairly rapidly, he said, “I think so. For sure, the goal is 14 to 16 teams in the Premier League. I think when you get to that number, then the Premier League is full. That works.

“But then after that, I want to look at some of the smaller markets to start a second division. You don’t need to have a city of a million or 500,000 people, there are some great second-division-team locations in Canada,” he said of cities with major junior hockey franchises.

That’s when I asked the question: “Are you talking relegation here?”

There was no delay in his response.

“Promotion and relegation, yes. That is the one unique thing about our game that is not replicated in any other sport in the world. And I think it brings a double dynamic. It’s not just who wins. This year in the EPL, everything was decided at the end,” he said of the top of the tables where Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were going at it.

“The relegation thing was over,” he said of the departing Huddersfield Town, Fulham and Cardiff City.

“Last year, the league title winner was decided long before the end of the season but people didn’t lose interest. They watched what was going on at the bottom of the table with a lot of interest.

“Once we have our Premier League rolling, I think we look at some of these second-division markets.”

As for his Premier League teams, his dream isn’t up there with the biggest leagues in Europe, in England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain.

It’s all those other national leagues over there.

“If we get to averaging 10,000 to 12,000 fans for our Premier League games in Canada, we’ll already be in the top 10 in Europe. Once you get past those big leagues, you’re in the area of Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Turkey and Portugal. I believe we can build to that. But we have to earn our way there.”

E-mail: tjones@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @ByTerryJones