European Super League? Don’t make me laugh, the whole thing is a travesty
THE notion Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea could all join a breakaway European Super League is nothing short of a disgrace.
It’s disgusting.
And what makes me laugh is that two of them – Arsenal and Manchester City – think they are worthy, even though they have added zero to the Champions League or European Cup over the years.
They have one final in Paris to show between them, yet they are talking about ditching the competition simply because someone has told them they can earn a few more quid elsewhere.
This is where the whole thing goes to pot, really, because if it’s invitation only, as it has to be to begin with, then why are Arsenal and City even there?
Why not Nottingham Forest (lifting the European Cup in 1979, right), Red Star Belgrade,
Feyenoord, Ajax or
Celtic – clubs steeped in European history?
It’s because City have more money than God and because Arsenal are the third-biggest team in England. The whole thing is so ill-conceived it beggars belief.
Yes, it might sound like a brave new world now, but what if in 20 years’ time, Real Madrid are running away with the title year in, year out and one of our teams is finishing bottom every season?
They will still be earning big bucks, granted, but being the worst elite team in Europe will impact shirt shifting in Bangkok, LA and Sydney.
We haven’t even got to the most important part of all this yet – the fans and the effect it will have on them. I’ve had so many supporters contacting me about this subject in recent days, and even those who follow the teams involved are saying it’s another example of the disdain in which they are held.
Chris Matheson, the Labour MP for Chester, tweeted over the weekend that any club which joins the European Super League should be banned from domestic and international competitions.
He also said their players should be unregistered by their associations and illegible for international selection, and I couldn’t agree more.
I doubt the FA would have the cojones to go that far, mind you.
They might just surprise me, though, and if they did do that then, honestly, I’m not sure City, Arsenal and Chelsea would be missed as much as they might think.
There are plenty of supporters who’d love to see a more competitive top flight with more clubs being given a chance and we could give it a makeover and change it back to a 22 or 23-team competition.
Of course, you’d have the prospect at some point that one or more of the teams which left would want to come back, and while my overriding belief is, ‘No, absolutely not’, you should never say never.
New owners might want to bring a team back for the right reasons and for that we’d have to listen.
If it’s simply because a team has finished bottom five times on the spin and the finances are no longer viable, however, I’d be the first in the line telling them where to stick it.