European Super League – Premier League dirty half dozen all now confirm they’re out!

The European Super League is no more.

At least for the time being…

The shameful attempted (even more) power and cash grab was officially unveiled on Sunday night, 12 ‘founding clubs’ revealed.

A coordinated statement (see below) simultaneously released by the dirty dozen.

The 12 ‘founding’ members named as ‘AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur.’

The dirty half dozen from the Premier League occupying particularly dodgy ground, considering only six months ago they attempted something very similar, an (even more) power and cash grab in the Premier League, which if they had succeeded back in October 2020, would have seen the six club award themselves special voting powers that would mean any important decision in the future would have given them absolute control, rather than the current position where all twenty PL clubs have an equal vote.

Moving back to the present though and only two days after the rather shambolic launch of this brave new world of a European Super League, we saw a hilarious sprint on Tuesday night by the shameful six from the Premier League, not to be the last one saying they’re out. No longer ‘wanting’ to be part of the plan.

In no particular order…

Tottenham

We can confirm that we have formally commenced procedures to withdraw from the group developing proposals for a European Super League (ESL).#THFC ⚪️ #COYS

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) April 20, 2021

Arsenal

As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League.

We made a mistake, and we apologise for it.

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2021

Chelsea

Club statement.

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 20, 2021

Manchester City

Club statement.https://t.co/GeNQZn8091

— Manchester City (@ManCity) April 20, 2021

Liverpool

Liverpool Football Club can confirm that our involvement in proposed plans to form a European Super League has been discontinued.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 20, 2021

Manchester United

We will not be participating in the European Super League.#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2021

The dirty half dozen to varying levels trying to claim they are sorry and apologising, from Arsenal who are trying to make out they are genuinely sorry, to Manchester United at the other extreme who appear to want to make quite clear that they are not sorry at all.

Well, apart from sorry that they weren’t able to get away with it.

If only it hadn’t been for those meddling kids (everybody bothered about football) they could have carried it (all the power and money) away and shared it between themselves.

A lot of people in powerful positions have been congratulating the six Premier League clubs for withdrawing from the plan BUT for your average fan that isn’t the case.

Football fans instead seeing it as simply selfish evil people trying to steal the sport away for their own benefit and getting caught with their collective hands in the till.

Football fans not wanting these despicable people to be praised for what they have done, instead, they / we want to know how the twelve clubs are now going to be punished for what they attempted.

In our case in England, especially the six Premier League clubs, what will be their fitting punishment?

People talking of massive fines, points deductions, bans from European competitions and so on.

The feeling is that the punishment should fit the crime.

They attempted to steal the future of football so the punishment handed out, needs to reflect that.

Unless there is such punishment handed down to clubs, that your average football fan can be satisfied with, it is hard to see this being an end to the matter.

These twelve clubs, both on the continent and especially those in the Premier League, they have been allowed to get away with far too much for decades, not just recently. They have repeatedly pushed the boundaries and demanded more and more of an unfair share of the power and cash, that all has to be reined back.

In the Champions League as a prime example, why should clubs be given preferential treatment both in terms of money and qualifying (seeding / coefficients etc), based on involvement in previous years?

It is time for change, real change. Both domestically and internationally.

Tottenham release official European Super League statement – Sunday 18 April 2021:

Leading European football clubs announce new Super League competition

We can confirm that we have joined 11 other European clubs in agreeing to form a new competition, the European Super League.

A joint statement released on behalf of all 12 Founding Clubs can be viewed below and we shall look to provide further details in due course.

We are committed to working with all stakeholders, particularly supporters, as plans for the competition develop.

Leading European football clubs announce new Super League competition

Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new midweek competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.

AC Milan, Arsenal FC, Atlético de Madrid, Chelsea FC, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus FC, Liverpool FC, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid CF and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as Founding Clubs. It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.

Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.

The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.

The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid. In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher-quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid.

Competition Format

• 20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.

• Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.

• An August start with clubs participating in two groups of 10, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter finals. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.

As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game.

The new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues. These solidarity payments will be substantially higher than those generated by the current European competition and are expected to be in excess of €10 billion during the course of the initial commitment period of the Clubs. In addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial foundation with all Founding Clubs signing up to a spending framework. In exchange for their commitment, Founding Clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic.

Florentino Pérez, President Real Madrid CF and the first Chairman of the Super League, said: “We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”

Backing the new European league, Andrea Agnelli, Chairman of Juventus and Vice-Chairman of the Super League, said: “Our 12 Founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, and giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role models.”

Joel Glazer, Co-Chairman of Manchester United and Vice-Chairman of the Super League, said: “By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”