Super League: European soccer breakaway competition kills the football dream
The proposal to form a breakaway league is horrible, shameful and doomed to fail. Robbie Slater explains why, despite being a lifelong Reds fan, his allegiances will change.
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The proposal to form a breakaway league, stacked with the biggest clubs in Europe, just isn’t football: it’s horrible, shameful and doomed to fail.
It’s a blatant cash-grab from the most powerful clubs in the world and is driven by nothing but greed – for money and power.
And it’s about the rich getting richer – and stuff everyone else. To hell with tradition.
This hasn’t happened overnight. It has been an idea in some people’s minds for a very long time.
It’s got a really bad smell about it and I can’t see how any fan would support it.
I grew up a fan of Liverpool, one of the six English clubs who have attached themselves to this breakaway league – but I wouldn’t be supporting them in it, that’s for sure.
That’s how strongly I disagree with it
There’s obviously a hell of a lot of money involved, but it’s about a group of clubs taking power away from the game and putting themselves in complete control.
Football is supposed to be the game for the people – that’s what it’s always across the many countries that play it.
Instead, you’re sacrificing your history and what the game stands for.
Trips to Burnley, Fulham or Newcastle, are the lifeblood of the Premier League.
They’re so important to the culture of the English game, whether it was the old first division or in the Premier League in which I played.
I never could imagine in a million years that clubs would abandon the tradition that has made English football so great.
But comparisons to the formation of English Premier League in 1992 are way off the mark. It’s completely different.
Gary Neville is the people's hero right now. Unreal piece of television about the European Super League. pic.twitter.com/ypdQbdQfs7
— Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) April 18, 2021
The Premier League didn’t try to get rid of all the smaller clubs. It wasn’t looking to split from the culture of traditions of the game – it effectively just rebranded the first division and opened the door for foreign players.
But this? It’s shameful and I do think it’s doomed to fail.
Maybe this is just the first shot at it, and eventually they’ll succeed but I can’t see it happening now because the reaction has been so strongly against it.
UEFA and FIFA have condemned the breakaway competition. Players will be banned from all European competitions and world competitions – they wouldn’t be able to play in World Cups.
If I’m a current player, I wouldn’t want it. I wouldn’t sacrifice my Socceroos career for this. No chance.
That’s what counts at the end of a career: how many times did I play for my country? Did I win anything? Did I get personal rewards?
I would like to think the players of today, in spite of the millions they earn, would feel that way as well.
The whole thing is embarrassing.
EUROPEAN SOCCER ROCKED BY PLANS FOR BREAKAWAY COMPETITION
Martyn Ziegler and Matt Lawton
The Times
England’s “big six” clubs are facing the threat of expulsion from the Premier League and European competitions after signing up to a breakaway Super League.
In what would be the biggest shake-up in the history of European club football, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City joined six other teams including Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus in the breakaway announcement, which would allow them to seize control of the vast revenue generated by broadcast and endorsement deals.
The development now pits Europe’s top sides against UEFA and domestic leagues in a dispute over the future of the game.
Players who play in the proposed Super League have been told they will be banned from representing their countries in the European Championship and World Cup.
The Super League plan offers incentives of up to pounds 303 million per club to 15 permanent members to join, with five other teams invited to take part every year.
Clubs could play 18 to 23 matches a season in the new competition, which would replace the Champions League and operate alongside domestic leagues like the Premier League.
The American owners of Manchester United (Joel Glazer), Liverpool (John W Henry) and Arsenal (Stan Kroenke) are key players and Glazer has been confirmed as a vice-chairman of the new league under the leadership of the Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
Glazer said in a statement announcing the Super League’s launch: “By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”
4 of the "Super League" teams are sitting in 5th, 6th, 7th & 9th in the premier league. Arsenal haven't been super for a decade let's be honest! pic.twitter.com/XwqJ4TUrOo
— Football Hub (@FootbalIhub) April 18, 2021
It is understood the plan for the Super League would be for it to be launched in the 2022-23 season — though next season would be possible in extreme circumstances.
The Super League statement said: “Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new midweek competition, the Super League, governed by its founding clubs. It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.”
The German clubs Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and French champions Paris Saint-Germain have not signed up to the plan.
An indication of the seriousness of the breakaway threat, and the bitter divisions it has caused, was highlighted by the fact that none of the 12 clubs participated in the ECA’s meeting on Sunday.
.@Carra23 has made his thoughts on the European Super League very clear...ðŸ’🇪🇺
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 18, 2021
The revelations led to a huge public backlash, led by United icons Gary Neville and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister, described the plan as “very damaging”.
The Premier League held an emergency board meeting on Sunday and wrote to all 20 clubs, with Richard Masters, the chief executive, calling for the rebels to “walk away immediately before irreparable damage is done”.
In a letter seen by The Times, Masters told the clubs that forming such a breakaway would be a direct breach of Premier League rules. Neville, the Sky Sports pundit and former United defender, said he was “disgusted by Manchester United and Liverpool the most”.
Ferguson, who is still on United’s board of directors, told Reuters: “Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football.”
UEFA , which controls European competitions, said the league was a “cynical project founded on self-interest”, and threatened clubs with expulsion.
“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams,” UEFA said.
A Super League would be disastrous for the Champions League and would also be damaging for the other clubs in the Premier League who would be effectively blocked from the breakaway competition.
UEFA is due to confirm on Monday its own proposed redesign of the Champions League, which includes an expanded group stage from 2024.
Originally published as Super League: European soccer breakaway competition kills the football dream
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