Euro glory was like climbing Everest.. Don’t give up on that
Fergie slams European Super League plan
SIR ALEX FERGUSON has slammed plans for a breakaway European Super League, claiming it trashes 70 years of football history.
Gary Neville, who conquered Europe under Fergie, branded his old club Manchester United and Liverpool “greedy” and “disgraceful” as UEFA declared war on the breakaway set-up.
European football’s governing body has warned players they could be banned from playing in the World Cup after England’s two biggest clubs joined Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea in backing the venture.
The big six have all held talks with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid as well as Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan over a breakaway.
Ferguson, who won the Champions League twice with Manchester United and the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Aberdeen, said: “Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football.
“Both as a player for a provincial team Dunfermline in the 60s and as a manager at Aberdeen winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, for a small provincial club in Scotland it was like climbing Mount Everest.
“Everton are spending £500million to build a new stadium with the ambition to
play in Champions
League. Fans all over love the competition as it is.
“In my time at United, we played in four Champions League Finals and they were always the most special of nights.”
Former Old Trafford defender Neville blasted: “It’s an absolute disgrace and we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league. That includes my club.
“They’re an absolute joke and the time has come now, independent regulator, stop these clubs having the power base – enough is enough.
“The motivation is greed. Deduct them points tomorrow, put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them. You have to stamp on this.
“It’s a criminal act against football fans in this country. Make no mistake about it, this is the biggest sport in the world, the biggest sport in this country and it’s a criminal act against the fans, simple as that.”
The rebel clubs have also held talks with financial backers JP Morgan to set up their own European league in direct competition to the Champions League.
UEFA are ready to take legal action against the clubs.
They said: “We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit.
“The clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.
“We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this.”