If you fancied a nice feelgood article today then please stop reading now, because this is my take on why a variation on the European Super League is inevitable and may happen sooner rather than later.
To set the scene, let me refer to two things that appeared on social media this week.
The first was a very reasonable piece on the BBC Sport site explaining how Norwich’s self-funding model meant that the club wouldn’t be breaking the bank on its return to the Premier League.
Inevitably, of course, it attracted the usual knuckle draggers with jibes about yo-yo clubs, the umpteenth re-emergence of the “Let’s be havin’ you” video and one comment that particularly stuck out from an Aston Villa fan called Sean O’Grady which read:
“Norwich continuing their tradition of getting promoted then returning to where they actually belong which isn’t among the elite.”
Now, I follow some great Villa fans on Twitter who I’m sure would find that comment as embarrassingly ignorant as I do, but it’s the attitude behind it that’s the relevant point.
Villa are a good side, but they finished 11th this season, yet Sean thinks that they are part of the elite, which gives you a clue to the level of entitlement that you will find among fans of the top six clubs. And it’s that attitude that they are so special that, along with the promise of even more money, helped encourage the first attempt to set up a breakaway league.
Yes, the fans objected this time (although in some cases it’s debatable as to how much of that was about the fear of being a smaller fish in a bigger pond than any real ethical consideration) but while there is an attitude, which is actively encouraged in the national press by the likes of Martin Samuel, that there are clubs that have no right to sit at the top table unless they “play the game”, (which basically means wildly overspending to try to compete), it is only a matter of time before another, more decisive attempt is made.
Of course, there has always been elitism in football, but it generally used to be about quality on the pitch rather than how much money a club could spend and that, coupled with the enduring willingness of owners to risk everything, is pushing the game as we know it in this country to the brink.
I mentioned that two things had caught my eye, and the second of these was a statement from the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust reporting that their clubs players are threatening to terminate their contracts because they haven’t been paid for two months, and demanding that the owner either sorts out the financial problems or sells the club to someone who will.
This comes hot on the heels of the collapse of a second attempt to sell Derby County in the last few months by Mel Morris, who took over in 2014 and broke the club’s transfer record four times in his first three years as well as going through nine managers in a five-and-a-half-year spell, and in turn follows Stoke City reporting losses of over £90 million.
It’s also worth noting that Wednesday and Derby have also sold and leased back their stadiums to circumvent the Financial Fair Play rules by selling off the family silver.
All three of these clubs have been in the Premier League in recent memory and all are now in huge financial trouble, but there are plenty of others and Covid has only served to accelerate a process that was happening anyway.
There is a clear dichotomy between the elite clubs who are clearly itching to tap into the huge and extremely lucrative demand for a “super league” from the Middle East and Asian markets and the increasing number who have scaled the top of the pyramid only to slip back and be buried under an avalanche of debt, and something has to give.
While the long-awaited fan led review will inevitably result in demands for more money to find its way down the pyramid from the honey pot of the Premier League and deterrents to excessive spending that actually work, do we really believe that that will happen?
Isn’t it much more likely that the top clubs will take the opportunity to walk away from the mess that have helped to create and dive into an even bigger money pit, leaving the rest of the English game mired in debt and facing a huge cut in TV revenue?
While that’s potentially apocalyptic, the prospect of a genuinely competitive top division and games kicking off at 3pm on a Saturday certainly appeals to many fans, although sadly it would also mean even more clubs going to the wall.
The crisis hasn’t been averted, it’s just been postponed for now.
Excellent article and food for thought. Personally, a part of me half hoped there would be a breakaway and the super rich owners would take their toys and play abroad. I, for one, would have absolutely no interest in watching such a league. I have no idea how others would feel about paying for it. It would, however, relieve the monotony of the rich buying everything and competing amongst themselves. I think the super league might quickly turn into a white elephant. I would be interested to see what others think.
Great article
The other worry I have is in 2024 the Champions League expands the number of group games from 4 to 10 at that point there will be a lot of fixture congestion and pressure from the top 6 to reduce the size of the premier league from 20 to 18 to reduce their issues at the expense of the rest. We could see 2 up 2 down as well at that point
Thzts a sobering read. If you are priced correct then it’s probably the end for football.
While there is a huge market in the middle East and amongst gambling mad asians for kerry packer circus style football staged at whatever is the optimum prime time for viewing and betting figures in those outposts, there is no stomach for it here.
Mugs like Sean o grady or whatever his name is would tag along for a while, before they sicken of the whole thing and fall away with the rest of us.
Televised football is infested with interminable shouty crass advertising, extolling the virtues of accas and suchlike, all laced with a side order of some junk food takeaway and no doubt a gassy lager, all aimed at the couch potatoes who never see the inside of a real football stadium.
Forget the fan power, the European super league was headed off by hm government, who made it quite clear that a grab raid on our national heritage by greedy foreigners would be met by a raft of sanctions which would render it impossible to stage these pyjama parties masquerading as football matches.
Subsequent attempts by the Spanish infantas and mussolini Milan to gather the full force of the European Union behind their just cause have yet to bear fruit.
I’m a traditionalist. I was brought up on Graham Paddon, old blokes with a cigarette hanging from their bottom lip swearing incessantly, little blue cars around the perimeter of the pitch, 7 pence for a programme, which I still have somewhere, foul weather, biting cold, the seventies, the early eighties… I’d welcome them back warts and all right now…
It matters not in the grand scheme whether we ate “self funded” or to coin a delia phrase have camels tethered outside on the car park, as we will fall victim to any further moves to instigate this abomination. All tradition, memories of parking up in bracondale in my late father’s Bedford van and following the swarms down the hill, led by the nose by the smell of onions and by the noise and hubbub will be gone forever, another ruin caused by the blight of modern life, like social media or global pandemics.
Thanks Rob, I’m going to pick up my youngest and do a day’s work in a slightly more depressed mood than I was prior to reading your summary.
I’m going to push the envelope a little further, should a super league of 18 clubs occur there will come a time when the mass of support will be Asian with uber pressure for the live games to be in the far east. Manchester United playing / based in Singapore , Phuket et al with one game a season at their Manchester home.
European associations must let these teams breakaway and deny them access to any European leagues. Let them become ‘world teams’ and watch them wither on the vine.
“…the level of entitlement that you will find among fans of the top six clubs.”
Living in the north west and belonging to a (not at all posh) golf club I know plenty of Man U and Man C fans, and a few from Liverpool too. I would not accuse the Citeh fans of a sense of entitlement at all. The others though, yes, absolutely. And as you say, the likes of Villa and Leeds fans are the same.
The blues, certainly the middle-aged+ ones, are very much aware that they served time in the doldrums of the Championship and League One not so long ago and totally accept that their current success has everything to do with the Saudis and nothing to do with club history and tradition. I wonder if Chelsea fans think the same about Russian oil?
I also think your take on Martin Samuel is wide of the mark. I’ve followed him since he was a Times writer and was very disappointed when he went off to the Daily Wail. But I still read most of his articles (and then delete the history of visiting their website out of embarrassment).
He has always been strongly against the way the supposed European elite have sought to protect themselves by imposing FFP regulations on the likes of Man City and Chelsea, or by guaranteeing places in the Champion’s League based on historic results from decades ago. He has criticised our own top six for trying to shut out “interlopers” like Leicester. When anyone breaks the mould like Leicester winning the league or Wigan the cup he’s totally up for it.
He certainly did pan us for not having a go, not at breaking into the top 6 elite, but at staying up in the PL. That our fans have taken the hump seems rather odd to me given how many slammed Delia and co for exactly the same thing.
Samuel’s also pointed out frequently that you can throw £100m at it, as Villa and Fulham did, with no guarantees of success. Frankly I think he’d be delighted if we, or any club like us, did win the lottery – he’d just like us to buy a ticket first.
I agree with the main thrust of your article though. The issue is not going away. Clubs like Bayern, Barcelona, the Madrids, and PSG have far fewer domestic challengers than the PL clubs so of course they would welcome more top level competition.
But Robert Lewandowski said in an interview a few days ago that there are now too many games from the players’ point of view. So it may turn out that the strongest opposition to some kind of European league will come from them. Most of the top internationals are at their physical limits already. They are massively rewarded financially without the need to play any more intense high level competitive games, and the associated burden of a load more continental travel.
Very worrying piece Robin.
Especially with the 3 instigators of the ESL taking UEFA to court.
I looked into the debt of the big 3 in Spain’s and it is unbelievable.
Despite the massive amount of money in the game it still isn’t enough for the greedy elite.
And this is all this is about money, they dress it up like isn’t this fantastic for the fans….week in week out exhibition football. Not for me nor I imagine too many on here.
If the top six ( Arsenal 😂) did leave the Premier league it would devastate it.
Sky money in it’s present form would be gone, there would be no more Norwich City 3 Manchester City 2, no more squeaky bum time regarding the play offs from the Championship being the £ 178 million match and no more Leicester City or even Norwich City winning the Premier League or as in our case coming third.
I like Chris loved the late sixties, seventies Graham Paddon etc when every match was contested ferociously, even a League Cup round 3 match. A lot of the atmosphere is different since those days that is true but the Sky money has also been a good thing, vastly better and safer Stadiums, better playing surfaces and safer regarding hooliganism. On the flipside the cost has gone up and priced too many people out of football, kick offs are all over the place and ….. VAR !!!!
So many of our fellow clubs have cheated, that’s what Sheff Wed, Derby, Bournemouth etc have done and despite this it is staggering when you see their debt.
Delia’s ownership of the club is a debate for another day but thank god we have her and Michael at this time, at least we know they love the club and wouldn’t do anything to imperil the club
I think the crunch will come when the TV rights are up for tender again as I bet Manchester United Real Madrid etc will try to do their own personal deals. Both domestic and European.
And as for the Villa fans comments, their are only 6-7 clubs I can possibly see not getting relegated from the EPL any time soon. The top 6 ( as they call themselves) and Everton.
If any rich owner walks away from the others, they make the wrong managerial appointment or have poor recruitment over a long enough time any of them could go down even Villa. Lose Grealish and that would be interesting.
Like the villa fan I bet fans of Stoke, Sunderland, Derby, etc all thought their clubs were established Premier League clubs. Only for the lucky few does that now apply.
I think FFP is unfair because it stops a Wimbledon, a Blackburn to some extent by not allowing an owner to pump money into the club but it’s rules on wages to income are a correct and sensible idea which should be strengthened.
Like you Robin I do fear the ESL is not finished I just hope it can be stopped.
Thanks Tim
You saved me writing a lengthy reply along exactly the same lines!
A great article Robin – sometimes reality can be depressing but the truth needs to be out there, as it were.
Thanks Martin.
The excessive greed of ” The Big clubs” never ceases to amaze me.
And then there are the clubs who perceive themselves as, or were big clubs and cheat year after year. For £££££.
Yes derby and the likes have cheated and will lose points but how come the top clubs,achieve their success on minus hundreds of millions most years and don’t face a points deduction !and to expand the tom dick and harry league just ridiculous how many recent winners have actually been champions the year before hence tom dick and harry😊
Hi Robin
A few days ago on Newsnow some scouser was saying Aaron’s to Loserpool would be good for his confidence and he would learn how to adapt to the pressure at a top club plus learn his trade from the vest RB in the world.
How would sitting on the bench do his confidence any good but it shows us all that most of the top 6 clubs only see the other 14 as academy’s for them to plunder at their will.
Will we see another attempt at an ESL breakaway yes in some disguise and possibly the discussion are already taking place, Supporters shouting from the roof tops about clubs being open and honest about such things as any involved will have signed a non disclosure agreement as they did with the last fiasco.
Great read Robin as usual on a very depressing subject as for Martin Samuel he gas his oen agenda and gas no real morals in his articles
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay Healthy and Stay safe 🙏
I agree Alex the worse club for Max to join is Liverpool.
Years and years being Trent’s understudy, absolutely no way will that help him with his career.
Manchester City would be a far more wise move. Kyle Walker is 31 big difference. He is way ahead of Serge Aurier now so Spurs ? Rebuilding a excellent team I’m afraid who at the end of the day won nothing.
He would walk into the arsenal first team right now. Manchester United would not be my choice either with Wan Bissaka only 23.
If I were Max I would stay with us, get another Premier League season as a guaranteed starter and go abroad or Manchester City.
Great club but definately not Liverpool.
Would love a banner in the Barclay next year with “Legacy fans and proud of it” in massive writing especially when we play the big 6.
It wouldn’t bother me if the big six buggered off into some sort of international league. I couldn’t name more than a couple of their players, I never watch any of their games. Years ago I was an avid watcher of MOTD but no more, unless City are in the Prem,. My interest is and always has been the Canaries and I like to keep an eye on the teams that they play, our rivals. I don’t long for a mega rich owner who will spend obscene sums on the club, don’t know what the future holds but I think Norwich are in a sound position and we’ll see decent football at Carrow Road in the years to come.