Why is there so much (deserved) animosity towards the European Super League?
Explainer.
Edit. This plan has since collapsed in embarrassing fashion due to massive resistence against it. Read on for why.
Twelve European football clubs (6 from England) have signed a letter of intent to form a new and exclusive European competition on top of the Premier League and European Champions League. To sum up the mood in much of England's football community, I'm gonna hand over to Gary Neville:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP05EDm9EB8]
It's important to note that Neville isn't a shock-jock or a controversialist, far from it. He is known as one of the most measured and articulate ex-players of his generation. He's also played 400 games for Manchester United (his only club) and basically pretty much just called for his own team to kicked out of the Premier League on national TV. So yeah, it's a pretty f***ing big deal.
Football is a very traditional sport in this country with teams that have deep roots in (largely working-class) communities going back over a hundred and thirty years. A big part of that tradition is the belief in the pyramid system of sport as opposed to the franchise model.
In North America, it's accepted that team owners can buy their way into a league and move their team to a different city. I'm sure this can be controversial when it happens but the fact remains that membership of competition is decided in the boardroom and not on the pitch.
England, as with other European countries runs, a pyramid system where promotion and relegation are seen as an integral part of sporting meritocracy (and integrity). As a Burnley fan myself, I've seen my team play in all four levels of England's national professional leagues. When watching third and fourth-tier football I did have the hope that one day we could get in the Premier League and eventually we did. The idea of creating a separate elite competition where nobody else is allowed to participate no matter how well they do is seen as fundamentally at odds with the ethos of the game.
The best teams in Europe already compete against each other in the European Champions League, which runs concurrently with domestic competitions. You have to qualify for this though by good league performances from the previous year. Also, you can fail to qualify for it. And this element of doubt - even for the biggest hitters - is essential for the intrigue of sport. In recent years Atalanta, a small Italian team from just outside Milan, has gone as far as the Champions League quarter-finals. AC Milan (one of the breakaway clubs) hasn't qualified for the Champions League for a few years due to poor performance. Now their owner is fixing things so that poor performance doesn't matter. Teams from small countries like Portugal and the Netherlands have won European cups in the past and plenty of teams have known that (if you get everything right) you can have the dream of at least playing on the highest stage. All of this is now under threat as the super-elite ring-fence things to protect their franchise revenue... and also threaten the revenue of everybody else.
Football is run as a business, just as everything else is. The biggest, richest, and best-supported teams will always have huge advantages. However, football in this country has deep roots in local communities and ring-fenced elite competitions could mean that smaller local professional teams could go to the wall. I think this can be stopped but only by united action from governments, fans, and national associations.
Edit. This plan has since collapsed in embarrassing fashion due to massive resistence against it. Read on for why.
Twelve European football clubs (6 from England) have signed a letter of intent to form a new and exclusive European competition on top of the Premier League and European Champions League. To sum up the mood in much of England's football community, I'm gonna hand over to Gary Neville:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP05EDm9EB8]
It's important to note that Neville isn't a shock-jock or a controversialist, far from it. He is known as one of the most measured and articulate ex-players of his generation. He's also played 400 games for Manchester United (his only club) and basically pretty much just called for his own team to kicked out of the Premier League on national TV. So yeah, it's a pretty f***ing big deal.
Football is a very traditional sport in this country with teams that have deep roots in (largely working-class) communities going back over a hundred and thirty years. A big part of that tradition is the belief in the pyramid system of sport as opposed to the franchise model.
In North America, it's accepted that team owners can buy their way into a league and move their team to a different city. I'm sure this can be controversial when it happens but the fact remains that membership of competition is decided in the boardroom and not on the pitch.
England, as with other European countries runs, a pyramid system where promotion and relegation are seen as an integral part of sporting meritocracy (and integrity). As a Burnley fan myself, I've seen my team play in all four levels of England's national professional leagues. When watching third and fourth-tier football I did have the hope that one day we could get in the Premier League and eventually we did. The idea of creating a separate elite competition where nobody else is allowed to participate no matter how well they do is seen as fundamentally at odds with the ethos of the game.
The best teams in Europe already compete against each other in the European Champions League, which runs concurrently with domestic competitions. You have to qualify for this though by good league performances from the previous year. Also, you can fail to qualify for it. And this element of doubt - even for the biggest hitters - is essential for the intrigue of sport. In recent years Atalanta, a small Italian team from just outside Milan, has gone as far as the Champions League quarter-finals. AC Milan (one of the breakaway clubs) hasn't qualified for the Champions League for a few years due to poor performance. Now their owner is fixing things so that poor performance doesn't matter. Teams from small countries like Portugal and the Netherlands have won European cups in the past and plenty of teams have known that (if you get everything right) you can have the dream of at least playing on the highest stage. All of this is now under threat as the super-elite ring-fence things to protect their franchise revenue... and also threaten the revenue of everybody else.
Football is run as a business, just as everything else is. The biggest, richest, and best-supported teams will always have huge advantages. However, football in this country has deep roots in local communities and ring-fenced elite competitions could mean that smaller local professional teams could go to the wall. I think this can be stopped but only by united action from governments, fans, and national associations.
41-45, M
