What on earth is going on in this world!
First, we are struck with a devastating pandemic that has destroyed businesses and caused nothing but loss and grief for families, and now we have to deal with this utterly disgusting proposal for a European Breakaway League.
I am sorry but don’t these so-called BIG teams not get the chance to play each other when and if they qualify for the Champions League and Europa Leagues? Are Real Madrid and Chelsea not drawn against each other in the semi-finals this year? Did Real Madrid not just play Liverpool in the Champions League this season?
The answer to all of the above is YES, so why do they need a breakaway league to play the fixtures that they already can in the European competitions over a season? The difference is they have EARNED the right to play those games.
Arsenal have a big history and have been through so many ups and downs throughout the years and when we were great we were amazing, when we were poor we were diabolical and unacceptable, but the FANS and certain players have STOOD BY and lived through the ups and downs and still supported through thick and thin.
Yet now enough is enough.
The worst thing of all is how willing these proposed top six teams in England and three over Spain and Italy will be to give up all of the passion, fight, history, dedication and soul that these clubs and players have built up over the years, just for the sake of £3.5b pounds and to get their names out there alongside the biggest teams in Europe over the years.
Shocking and disappointed does not even cut it, but I guess we can expect nothing less from money grabbing, selfish human beings.
All we can hope is that this league is written off quicker than it has been proposed!
Shenel Osman
Everything changes in life nothing stays the same. But I agree with you
Money.
Apparently all founding teams are given 350m just for participating. This is 4 times what CL winner gets.
If they can promise that just for participating, how much of the profits does UEFA wiesel for themselves in CL?
Exactly, a large chunk of profits goes to UEFA
The greed, monopoly and corruption of UEFA and Fifa adds up…..
Clubs being to break away form their own association
Instead of a large chunk of funds going to UEFA, Fifa, FA and the TV companies….
Super League clubs get a big share of the pie
Without the big 12 clubs playing in the Champions league and the own domestic league, who is going to watch?
TV revenue will go down and etc….
Do you really know what you are talking about or just making it up as you go along. Clubs have been given billions of pounds and squandered it.
Regardless of what is said and written by representatives of the”dirty dozen” in terms of being good for football and fans, the motivation for their proposals is purely financial.Basically they see the new Super League as a means of gaining a huge windfall with which to reduce /clear their huge debts which have been built up over the years as a consequence of incompetent Management.I suspect Real Madrid and Barcelona are the prime movers in the quest for quick money to avoid the prospect of them having to scrimp and save for years like the vast majority of smaller Clubs are obliged to do.Fans should not be influenced or misled by any rhetoric which spills out from the voices of these unscrupulous individuals who could not care a dam about grass roots football where every great player kicked his first ball.They are an utter disgrace to our sport which they of regard purely as a business.
People criticizing the super league are all big fat hypocrits. The PL has been awash with ludicrous amounts of money for decades but no one complains about it. Huge luxurious stadiums have been built but the fans don’t complain. Players are paid grotesque salaries but no one cares. During lock down Arsenal players had to be literally threatened to take a miserly 7% cut most of which they got back because they won the FA Cup and made the EL but no one cares.
Games are hardly ever free to air now but no one complains. Arsenal fans pay the highest ticket prices in the land yet there is a 50,000 waiting list for season tickets. Fans complain about the offside laws,VAR, midday football clubs having 3 new kits a year but quickly got used to it. The world cup was bought by Qatar by bribing officials but no one cares. The Nations cup is just to make money but no one cares. The EL is just an artificial comp for loser teams but no one complains. The Carabao and FA Cups feature the same elite teams in the last 4 every season. No one complains.
The Premier League has virtually the same top 8 every season but no one complains. Clubs tour all over the world in pre season but no one complains. The Champions league has the same top 16 every season for the last 20 years but no one complained.
All PL clubs are owned by billionaires mostly overseas owners but no one complains
Inequality is normal just like vast riches are normal in top European football. The PL clubs r*pe the rest of the football pyramid so I’m picking the 97% of the pyramid looking up at the PL whining their heads off are saying good job you entitled prix.
Amen Wyoming.
The CL is looking to extend again to include more teams. Is this not greed? For me, as a fan, the CL is too boring for words until after the group stages. The SL would be a lot juicier. The SL is a substitution of the CL not the PL.
Let each competition stand on its own merrit. Market forces will show what fans want to see which in turn will drive revenue.
Finally, why should football clubs not be allowed to seek profit? Isn’t the point of any business to be profitable? When you make or produce a product people care about or value, you make money, when you don’t you fail to make money.
Let fans turn of their TV when the SL shows Man U vs Barca and let them switch to Leverkusen vs Dinamo Kiev.
Exactly,
EPL TV rights are worth 12 billion ….
the FA takes a huge amount of funds……
A post from a previous thread:
The disagreement comes from the nature of the competition. In recent years, we can all attest to how competition is defined by financial clout (and, admittedly, we have all allowed it to happen) rather than footballing merit.
The backlash is definitely aimed imprecisely, but I think it reflects a tipping point. The pendulum has swung too far towards wealth and fans have had enough. The super league, organised by those who compete, above anything else devised in the sport, represents pure, unabashed material greed.
Speaking personally, I hate the super league only a little bit more than FIFA, UEFA and the Premier League. All football organisations have allowed money to dictate terms and all of us fans have blood on our hands. Enough is enough. Serious reform is needed across all elite competitions.
Sean M – I agree with your observation that football has been mismanaged.
Although I am European, I am a big fan of the self-regulated nature of the NFL and NBA. Because of the self-imposed financial constraints in those leagues, it is much harder for one team to dominate for long. All teams have a salary cap, this means you cannot buy your way to a Championship, you actually have to manage your pay role. There are of course more financial regulation but these leagues manage themselves in a way where winning the league means something and is hard. And the divide between the biggest and smallest teams is far smaller than in European football.
The owners realize(d) that to keep the product interesting they had to put these rules and constrains in place.
But the idea of this league is there will be no constraints. Ive already read Real Madrid will get their first payment 200 million euros more than english teams to pay off their debt to the bank that is actually funding this thing. Now if that doesn’t sound corrupt to you then you dont understand the word.
I don’t think the biggest complaints are in regards to simply money — its the consolidation of money. Suddenly there is an elite class that cannot be changed. No relegation from the founders. No incentive to perform. Look at the models in the US to see how this works. I’ve from the US and I envy ‘the pyramid’ because it is the sporting equivalent to the American Dream. Look at Leicester recently, and Swansea from years ago in Europe – no more of that, ever. Dreams dead. And in terms of trying to compete with all the money in a single place. Good luck to any ‘outsider’ trying to compete for more than a season.
That is the problem – the money is just the fuel, the real problem is the destruction of the system by creating this monopoly.
Wyoming, I completely agree with you. We all moan but no complains and like you say there is a waiting list for season tickets
Also, let’s not forget that organizations like FIFA and UEFA are deeply currupt and hardly the ones to objectively judge against the SL.
These organizations have sold the world cup to Qatar and are merely run by power hungry people who don’t care too much about the fans. They also only care about money and power yet they are not the ones with their money on the line like these clubs are.
Whilst I agree with you about the corruption of those organizations, and genuine mistakes that are ruining the game, E.G. VAR, the big difference worth noting is that, at least to a large degree, the values and principles of what makes football so great are still respected. That we have true competition. There will always be huge money involved WHATEVER is done, but the ESL has taken it too far.
The ESL is a closed tournament on the whole, with no competition, that is purely a greed based project, that spits in the face of what our beautiful game has been built on. How on earth are Spurs in this? How is Arsenal in this ahead of say Nottm Forest or even Leicester? Think of the extra cost to fans. Yet another subscription, or pay-per-game deals?
Wyoming, you are totally wrong and out of line to suggest that all critics of the Super League proposals are big fat hypocrits.I suggest you tone down your vitriol and apologize to the vast majority of fans who do not share your views and still regard football as a sport.
Grandad – I can not speak for Wyoming but I think what he was trying to say is that those who claim or suggest that the super league and it’s participants are the first interested parties to be driven by financial profit simply wrong. The game is and has been driven by profit for a very long time.
The net works that have paid the leagues and the clubs big money for the TV rights only do this to make money. FIFA selling the world cup to Qatar didn’t do this because it was best for the game and the fans or players, they this for the money.
Money and greed has driven the game for a long time. The Super league just tries to redistribute some of the control and money from the CL to the clubs.
To all of sudden cry “greed!!!” now as opposed to when players signing crazy contracts or clubs paying big transfer monies comes accross as a tat selective.
BUT IT IS GREED AND NOTHING ELSE
It’s like Klopp says, who wants to see Liverpool vs Real Madrid every season? Looks great on paper, but will become very boring, very quickly!
And as for Arsenal fans, bottom 6 every season sounds great! We’re going to get spanked almost every week. We are horrendous in Europe! Nottm Forest deserve a spot far more than we do!
I am ashamed to be an Arsenal fan these days. Sick to the stomach! There should be a carpet ban on American owners from now on.