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European Super League - Dead on arrival
- Thread starter milo
- Start date
The thing is...
If it's competition over money that people want, would it not have suited the 14 to let that happen so they could have a fairer crack at the trophies and qualifying for Europe without the big clubs around?
You could argue that by fighting to keep them in the league what they've shown they are really interested in is the money themselves...
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A senior executive of one of the 'Big Six' believed on Saturday morning his club was set to agree to Champions League reforms rather than be part of the proposed European Super League.
In news that illustrates the chaos surrounding the failed launch of the breakaway it can be revealed that momentum for the now-aborted ESL began little more than 24 hours before the first reports of its existence emerged.
Until that stage Juventus president Andrea Agnelli appears to have discussed the proposals directly with club owners and without the knowledge of some of the senior executives involved even though they would have to try and implement it.
Agnelli along with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, Liverpool owner John W Henry and Manchester United’s Joel Glazer were the main driving forces behind the formation of the breakaway. All four took up roles when it was announced on Sunday night.
The rush would help explain how ill-thought through the launch of the ESL was, with a formal announcement after 11pm, and how poorly it was dealt with from a public relations point of view. It was in keeping with its poor conception that it fell apart less than 48 hours after it was announced with clubs relenting under the backlash from fans, players, their own staff, the media and authorities including the UK Government.
Senior figures from the remaining 14 Premier League clubs have called for individuals from the ‘Big Six’ to be punished but it does appear that the decision to become one of the so-called ‘founding fathers’ of the ESL was taken by the club owners who had been talking among themselves.
Clearly the senior executives at the clubs involved were aware of the long-running desire for a breakaway Super League and had infuriated the rest of the Premier League with the veiled threats of it happening over the past few years. But few appear to have been aware until the weekend that it was about to be launched. Some were caught out and have since been accused of misleading the various governing bodies and their club’s supporters.
The timing of the launch was clearly linked to Monday being the day when Uefa’s executive committee was giving its final approval to the expanded Champions League from 2024-25 following a meeting between the board of the European Club Association and Uefa’s club competitions committee last Friday.
The revamp, with a shift away from group stages to a single league stage in which each club will be guaranteed 10 games, was designed to head off a possible revolt and the threat of a separate Super League.
It appeared the owners believed that by springing their announcement on Uefa they could force through what they wanted. Instead it backfired spectacularly.
In news that illustrates the chaos surrounding the failed launch of the breakaway it can be revealed that momentum for the now-aborted ESL began little more than 24 hours before the first reports of its existence emerged.
Until that stage Juventus president Andrea Agnelli appears to have discussed the proposals directly with club owners and without the knowledge of some of the senior executives involved even though they would have to try and implement it.
Agnelli along with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, Liverpool owner John W Henry and Manchester United’s Joel Glazer were the main driving forces behind the formation of the breakaway. All four took up roles when it was announced on Sunday night.
The rush would help explain how ill-thought through the launch of the ESL was, with a formal announcement after 11pm, and how poorly it was dealt with from a public relations point of view. It was in keeping with its poor conception that it fell apart less than 48 hours after it was announced with clubs relenting under the backlash from fans, players, their own staff, the media and authorities including the UK Government.
Senior figures from the remaining 14 Premier League clubs have called for individuals from the ‘Big Six’ to be punished but it does appear that the decision to become one of the so-called ‘founding fathers’ of the ESL was taken by the club owners who had been talking among themselves.
Clearly the senior executives at the clubs involved were aware of the long-running desire for a breakaway Super League and had infuriated the rest of the Premier League with the veiled threats of it happening over the past few years. But few appear to have been aware until the weekend that it was about to be launched. Some were caught out and have since been accused of misleading the various governing bodies and their club’s supporters.
The timing of the launch was clearly linked to Monday being the day when Uefa’s executive committee was giving its final approval to the expanded Champions League from 2024-25 following a meeting between the board of the European Club Association and Uefa’s club competitions committee last Friday.
The revamp, with a shift away from group stages to a single league stage in which each club will be guaranteed 10 games, was designed to head off a possible revolt and the threat of a separate Super League.
It appeared the owners believed that by springing their announcement on Uefa they could force through what they wanted. Instead it backfired spectacularly.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Yes. Had Levy not wanted to move us to Stratford then West Ham may have been able to remove the running track from the Olympic stadium at a later date. If you want to count that as a great thing that Levy has done at Spurs then so be it. Personally I see it as inconsequential and the main thing I take out of that whole episode was that:
a) Levy wanted to move Tottenham Hotspur to Stratford
and
b) Levy ploughed money into a bid for Stratford and lost the bid to West Ham.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Ahhhhhh.... Apparently (according to my young adults) the yoot of today don't use FB ,it's all Snapchat, Instagram and a couple of others that I can't even remember the names of. 'Facebook is for old people' as they put it.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
While it's a bit brick, it is still hugely more competitive than the ESL 'founder member' nonsense.
I’m sorry, but do we really think Levy was serious about Stratford? It was surely just a negotiating tactic to leverage terms with Haringey council?
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
No. It was an architect named Steve Lawrence who had worked on the 2012 Olympics.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
Why not?
Baleforce
Arthur Rowe
I think he might have been.
I can see how it would have been a bigger sell for events/concerts/other sports and therefore more profitable due to its location and transport links.
Not a direct alternative no but clubs in it have no need to do well in the league so would potentially field weakened teams plus it's only a matter of time until they started moving a few games to Asia and the US etc which would again impact the league if they've flown halfway around the world. Let alone the boredom of playing 5 teams a minimum of 4 times a season. I enjoy the derbies etc but would there really be an edge when there's little resting on the game and it's the 4th one of the season?
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
I disagree with that. Winning the PL will always be special. We already have a scenario where the top few clubs earn a huge amount more than the rest from European football and the exposure that brings. Squad size rules and the extra games played by the ESL members would've kept things quite competitive in the PL I think. I didn't want the ESL to happen due to the ridiculous (lack of) qualification angle. However I think the PL would've survied and (indeed) thrived, after all it is far more lucrative and watched than the old first division was despite the PL being far less competitive than the old first divisoin.
You don't see how severely upsetting the organisation that is letting you host the WC might be an issue?
Fifa were talking about banning participating players from International football - not a leap to think they might have finally felt a pang of conscious over the dead body count in construction for the build or human rights issues or any other excuse they could have used to pull it from them.
parklane1
Tony Galvin
tickle my balls with a feather.
Seedy Ron
Jimmy Neighbour
Do greased palms get upset?
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
If only things were so simple eh? Levy was fuming after losing the bid, especially as he had been given assurances from Boris that the athletics legacy could be provided elsewhere in London and then ended up losing due to that not actually being the case.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
He was deadly serious. Spurs actually put together by far the best bid for the stadium. It turned out very well for us but our owners wanted that Stratford site badly.
Finney Is Back
Luka Modric
No. The World Cup is happening. The contracts are signed and the UAE won't be getting another one in our lifetimes. If FIFA pulled the plug after PSG had joined the ESL then they would've looked an even bigger bunch of crooks than they do already.... 'Oh we've suddenly come over all moral despite ignoring this for the whole bidding and building process'. Give over.