Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE FIGHT FOR OUR GAME
Outraged fans vow to block breakaway league... as international stars face Euros ban
FANS have vented their fury at a breakaway European football league with six English clubs. Gary Neville led the outrage. He said: “It’s pure greed.” Supporters called the move “betrayal” and vowed to block it. International stars now face a ban from this year’s Euros.
MORE used to being bitter rivals, fans of English football were last night united in fury at their clubs for signing up to the breakaway European Super League.
Supporters accused the mega-rich owners of betraying the beautiful game that was born out of the working classes and slavishly putting “greed above integrity”.
As football structures were turned on their head, even Prince William joined the chorus of anger at Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham.
England stars from those teams such as Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford have been warned they could now be banned from this year’s Euros competition.
And City and Chelsea face being kicked out of the Champions League semi-finals, due to start next week.
Sky football pundit and former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher said: “I think supporters can stop this. We have tribalism, we have rivalry, and that’s what makes it the game it is. Football fans get together. All of us. We need marches on stadiums. This cannot be allowed to happen.”
Fellow Sky pundit and former Man Utd defender Gary Neville added: “It’s pure greed. This is an attack on everything that’s been important in this country. Football has helped, in the midst of a pandemic, more than ever, to keep people going. And they’re trying to take it away from us.”
Fans across the land protested against the formation of the new league, which will replace the popular Champions League from next season.
Some unfurled a banner at Old Trafford which read: “Created by the poor, stolen by the rich.”
Outside Anfield, a poster carried the words: “Shame on You, RIP Liverpool FC 1892-2021.”
Liverpool supporters’ group Spirit of Shankly said it was “appalled” by the decision of Fenway Sports Group, the club’s Us-based owner to join the ESL. It said: “FSG have ignored fans in their relentless and greedy pursuit of money. Football is ours, not theirs. Our football club is ours not theirs.”
Liverpool’s Spion Kop 1906 withdrew their support, removing all their flags, claiming the club had put “financial greed above the integrity of the game”.
A quote outside Anfield by Bill Shankly talks about “working for the same goal and everybody having a share” – which fans warn the ESL does the exact opposite as it funnels more cash
into the richer clubs. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who in 2019 spoke out against the formation of the ESL, said before last night’s Premier League clash with Leeds: “People are not happy, I can understand that. But I cannot say much more about it.”
Manchester United Supporters’ Trust stated the ESL plan “goes against everything football, and United, should stand for”.
The club’s most successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson – who is still on the board – said: “Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football.”
Chelsea supporters described the ESL plan as the “ultimate betrayal”.
Spurs Supporters’ Trust called it a “concept driven by avarice and self-interest at the expense of the intrinsic values of the game we hold so dear”.
Arsenal Supporters’ Trust warned it was “the death of the club as a sporting institution”. Man City’s Official Supporters Club added the move showed “those involved have zero regard for the game’s traditions”.
It added: “We are determined to fight against this proposed league.”
Mike Sinclair, a City fan for 50 years, said the ESL is the last straw in a game now ruled by money.
He added: “The club has now shown that they don’t value me or their other fans and I don’t feel that they’re my team any more.”
There were calls to kick the six teams out of the Premier League.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin branded those behind the plan “liars” and “snakes”. He said: “Everyone is united against these disgraceful, self-serving proposals, fuelled by greed above all else. It is a spit in the face of all football lovers.”
FA president Prince William wrote: “Now, more than ever, we must protect the entire football community, from the top level to the grassroots, and the values of competition and fairness at its core.
“I share the concerns of fans about the Super League and the damage it risks causing to the game we love.”
Boris Johnson spoke of his opposition to the ESL plan and would not rule out a legal battle.
The PM said: “We are going to look at everything that we can do to make sure this doesn’t go ahead. I don’t think it’s good news for fans, or good news for football in this country.”
Sources claimed big clubs wanted to focus on “fans of the future” abroad rather than traditional “legacy fans” in the UK.
Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens said: “The hedge-fund owners and billionaires who treat football clubs like any other of their commodities have no care for the history of our football, for the role it plays in villages, towns and cities and especially for the fans who are the beating heart of it.”
MPS urged Mr Johnson to use competition rules to stop the new league, pass laws to overhaul club ownership, and ban players from rebel clubs from performing here.
French giants PSG and German champions Bayern Munich have both declined to join the ESL.
Tory backbencher Huw Merriman called for a German ownership model of clubs, where 51% of it is owned by the fans, to be examined in England.
The new league has £3.5billion worth of funding from US investment bank JP Morgan, and filed documents to protect against any legal action.
Football fans get together. All of us. We need marches on stadiums. We can stop this JAMIE CARRAGHER FORMER LIVERPOOL PLAYER ON ESL PLAN