18th April 2021. 11:30 PM BST. From the moment the second hand ticked past the 11:30 mark, football changed forever. The formation of the European Super League began. We all remember as children watching Beauty and the Beast, as Belle confesses her love for beast before the final petal falls, to break the curse. Well that night, twelve of Europe’s best clubs chose to allow that petal to fall, killing football as we know it. Forever.
You might question what this has to do with East London. Why should fans of East London clubs care? It’s not their clubs partaking in one of the biggest threats to Football in the history of the sport. Well, the answer in general is simple. From fans of Dagenham & Redbridge to West Ham, Leyton Orient to Millwall, football needs to unite to retain its very core. A fair and competitive nature which allows fans to dream and their teams to defy odds. From Leicester’s 5000/1 Premier League win to West Ham pushing top four this season, Football is built for fairy tales, but unlike Beauty and the Beast, this one doesn’t have a happy ending.
What Is It?
The European Super League is a new league style tournament set up by some of the biggest teams in Europe to replace the Champions League, running alongside the teams’ domestic leagues. The founding members consist of the ‘Big Six’ of English football in Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur, who will be joined by AC Milan, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, and Real Madrid. There is also set to be three further founding members set to join before the inaugural season, as well as a further five teams qualifying to make a total of 20 teams.
The proposed format is to split the teams into two sets of ten teams, with each of the ten teams playing each other home and away. The top three of each of the two groups will then progress into the quarter-finals. The final two spaces will then be decided by the fourth and fifth placed sides playing a two legged play off with the winner securing a place in the quarter finals, continuing on with the classic knock out set up with a neutral venue for the final. The plan is for the Super League to begin at the earliest possible time, which is likely to be aimed for the 2022/23 season.
“Made By The Poor. Stolen By The Rich”
When the news broke and a formal press release was created, one thing caught the eye of all who looked over it, a guaranteed $3.2bn per team, without any revenue or TV money. Something that would change the landscape of football. Break and expand the gap between the Rich and Poor. Create a monopolisation of Football. The end.
The threat to the game as we know it is real. UEFA and FIFA are hurt by the actions of the clubs and a threat of expulsion from domestic leagues a possibility if teams go ahead with it, branded by UEFA president Ceferin as the ‘Dirty Dozen’. Without the top six, the entire English pyramid suffers financially, the complete fundamentals of teams having an equal opportunity to achieve entry into the biggest tournament in Europe gone, and the fans left behind on the curbside by those at the top.
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Former Liverpool Defender Jamie Carragher condemned those at the top of the big sixes intention with the Super League, “This is not Liverpool, United, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Manchester City – this is John Henry and FSG, this is the Glazers, this is Roman Abramovich, Sheikh Mansour, Stan Kroenke, Daniel Levy. These are the people to blame for this.” Now more than ever the famous football saying of “Made by the Rich. Stolen by the Poor” is in full flow, and this is the closest we have ever come to seeing it come to complete fruition.
The Damning Floodlights Of Elland Road
Under the floodlights of Elland Road, Sky Sports conducted four interviews. The census between all four. Identical. Managers and Players alike. Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa, “Even if there are owners, the real owners of football are the ones who love the badge and without them football will disappear.”. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, “I don’t know exactly why the 12 clubs did it. But… it’s always ‘more games, more games’. It’s about more money, nothing else”.
Leeds striker Patrick Bamford, “I can’t quite comprehend. It’s amazing the amount of uproar when somebody’s pocket is being hurt, it’s a shame that doesn’t happen with issues like racism.”. James Milner of Liverpool “I don’t like it and I hope it doesn’t happen.”. On the first night of media attention following the announcement of the Super League, the viewing was grim. Four members of two of England’s most historic teams speaking out. Under the floodlights of Elland Road, the idea of the European Super League received its first damnation from managers and players closely involved.
From The Fallout To The Future, What’s Next?
The immediate reaction throughout world football was turmoil. The reaction of fans from the Top Six to Non League was shock, turned outrage very quickly. To understand the feeling of the room, just look at the Supporters’ Trusts for all of the Top Six, not one has not released a statement against their club’s actions. The fact the future of the game has been risked by the boards of these clubs has fractured the entire of football, causing a rift in football described by one of the board members of the Top Six as a “Nuclear War”.
Sometimes, actions speak louder than words. While we are in the infancy stages of the biggest saga in football history, this saying has taken a literal meaning. Liverpool fans swarmed Anfield to put up signs yesterday morning, and by the evening they gathered with Leeds fans to continue protests before their Monday night fixture.
Chelsea fans have planned a demonstration outside their West London home at 5:30pm today, 2.5 hours before their Premier League clash against Brighton. Tottenham fans have penciled in the 26th April, the day after their Carabao Cup final clash with Manchester City, something they are eager to not cause any more distractions for their players hence the Monday meeting. It will not be long till Arsenal and the Manchester Fans follow, with Arsenal playing on Friday, City playing on Wednesday and United on Sunday respectively.
Following the actions of both Leeds and Liverpool fans, Gary Neville last night pleaded with fans across the country to join in and take a stand, “We’ve got to come together to stop this proposal, this is an attack on everything that has been important in this country”, a heartfelt plea that will relate with fans up and down the country.
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No matter what level of the game you as a fan derive from, be it a Top Six fan, Millwall fan, or a Dagenham and Redbridge fan, we all have a voice, and a joint need to unite to stand up and protect the game and the ethics that it stands for.
As for the long term future, nobody knows what that holds for football. As quickly as this came to life it could die. The 14 other Premier League teams will hold a meeting today [20/04/21] to make their feelings known, with Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish indicating to Sky Sports his wishes to work with the Big Six to get them back on board with the current system.
The UK government have also threatened to step in, with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden stating “We will put everything on the table to prevent this happening”. While Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to do anything required to prevent the creation of the Super League from “Striking at the heart of the domestic game”. Calls which have also seen the backing of Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer, uniting the two oppositions of British politics together against the Super League.
https://twitter.com/politicsforali/status/1384466553467412493?s=21
For Fans across the world, there are many question marks floating around a murky future of the sport we hold dearly, with a current lack of answers to them. But there is one thing that is definitive when talking about the future of football.
The actions of those at the top of the Big Six will not and cannot ever be forgotten. Maybe one day, Football may find its fairy tale ending.
