Super League fell at the first hurdle

MANY grand claims are currently being made for a government regulator. one is that such a body would block clubs from joining a breakaway Super League. as if that happened. You might recall the threat of departure lasted all of 72 hours before crumbling to dust in this country, rejected by the fans and rattled by Boris Johnson’s proposed legislative bomb to be used against the rebels. and Johnson played a blinder. But much of that legislation was only what was in place anyway — articles of association involving the premier League, UEFA and FIFA. they never saw action as the fans’ revulsion made legislation moot at the time. of course we can now do more to ensure it never happens again. Yet it would be false to portray a government regulator as the only hope, as if the breakaway worked. it flopped, swiftly and miserably. the backlash was enormous. So football didn’t do badly against the Super League, even left to its own devices.