A football super league is almost inevitable and it will come eventually because of the riches it could potentially generate. It will ensure the survival and security of top European clubs, in a competition that will have the best clubs from each of the chosen countries featuring in ‘super bowl’ style competition.
It’s the complete bastardisation of football and is just another way of destroying it altogether and replacing it with a commercialised derivative complete with pom-poms and popcorn.
How very Stan Kroenke, no wonder he’s holding on to Arsenal like it’s a golden goose about to deposit a fortune in his lap.
One imagines that Kroenke and Gazidis were first in line when the idea was mentioned and were like a couple of kids looking forward to a jelly and ice cream party.
Of course like any dirty deed, those involved skulked off to a London hotel to discuss dividing the spoils and the lucrative benefits of such a deal, away from prying eyes and of the FA.
Back in March 2016 ‘The Telegraph’ reported:
“Five of England’s biggest club are reportedly in secret talks to break away from the Premier League and join a European Super League.”
“Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City discussed the long-mooted shake-up with American billionaire Stephen Ross at London’s Dorchester hotel”
Ok, so that was 2016 but nothings happened, so that’s that right ? No, that’s not the case, far from it.
The clubs involved have continued their secretive communications which were leaked to the press and were still discussing the matter in November last year.
The five have become six and include Spurs, who just happen to be in the Champions league final with Liverpool and thus, merit a place, but also because they have just moved back into a futuristic stadium that could generate a lot of ticket sales.
Uefa, an organisation that’s always slow to react, has looked at ways of ending talk of a super league once and for all, but let’s for now at least, look at what the introduction of a new league would imply to the game and fans in general.
So before you start salivating about the prospect of playing Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona on a seasonal basis, you would have to accept that it will change the current football landscape as we know it forever.
The big six from this country won’t be able to play in a super league and the premiership in a single season, something would have to go.
So, let’s surmise that the premier league would become what the championship is now and that the changes will cascade downwards, hopefully without sending any clubs into administration.
The domestic cups may remain but again, may be contested by those who now make up the remaining leagues.
The Champions and Europa leagues will either be combined and probably be available to those that are only participating in the super league almost becoming an FA cup.
As a result, there will be a devaluation across the board at one level and an elevation of a prestigious group of clubs hand picked for the size of their revenue and stadium capacity.
It signals the death of grassroot football, which was originally intended for the working man only to morph into an elitist game which draws in sponsors by the truck load and has players taking to the field with shirts full of multiple sponsors, similar to F1 drivers.
Worse still, VAR aside, there could be time outs for commercials or some other destructive nonsense similar to American super bowl.
The Telegraph reported in February this year:
“Uefa finally put to bed talks of a breakaway European Super League by announcing new legislation on Wednesday night to protect domestic top tiers until at least 2024.”
“The threat of a money-spinning competition involving the Premier League’s “Big Six” – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur – resurfaced in November when messages between clubs were published during the Football Leaks scandal.”
Furthermore it added:
“Uefa has now responded to the clandestine move by agreeing a new ‘memorandum of understanding’ with the European Club Association.”
“Building on their close cooperation over the last 11 years, the memorandum outlines the strong willingness of Uefa and ECA to continue to work together with mutual trust and clarity of objectives to ensure the well-being and stability of European football,” Uefa said
So that’s that then. Well no, more wishful thinking.
It’s a breathing space that allows this very complex series of negotiations to continue until all the European clubs find a basic agreement and permits expansion on the final details of a new league.
It’s a cease fire in an attempt to temporarily stop something that has already gained sufficient momentum to damage the governing bodies who currently control it.
It could become the footballing equivalent of Kerry Packers cricket circus, which back in the 70’s saw Packer recruit 35 of the top international cricketers on the planet for obscene sums of money, to compete in a series of high profile contests to be screened by Channel 9. The Australian Cricket Board quickly threw their toys out of the pram and denied him exclusivity to the broadcasting rights and so he had to fund the coverage himself.
That was just one individual taking on the establishment and changing the sport forever, imagine the might of a cartel of massive football clubs working together for a common goal. It sends a shiver down the spine and after 2024, who knows how this saga will continue.
The Telegraph said in its report that:
“German magazine Der Spiegel had previously published confidential documents and emails alleging Real Madrid were working with consultants on a 16-team Super League to kick off in 2021 effectively replacing the Champions League and outside the control of Uefa.”
So, we can gauge from this that there is a firm interest in the project and that those with the most to gain will be high rollers come D day.
Those high rollers will of course include the top six English clubs, who will continue to be involved in any future negotiations.
Arsene Wenger, who on occasion takes on the role of a Gallic Nostradamus said in 2018:
“In a few years you will certainly have a European league over the weekends,” said Wenger.
“It is inevitable. Why? First of all, to share money between the big clubs and small clubs will become a problem.”
Wenger, 68, added:
“The big clubs will say: ‘if two smaller clubs are playing each other nobody wants to watch it. People want to watch quality. So we have to share the money but nobody is interested in you.”
“A domestic league will certainly play Tuesday, Wednesday. I think that is the next step we will see.”
