The European Super League, once a concept that lit up the eyes of the higher-ups of football teams around the continent, was unceremoniously dumped like a sack of garbage on the side of a country road in April of last year. The bankrollers of some of the world’s biggest football teams aimed to bring them all together for a “best of the best” style championship, only for an unprecedented amount of backlash to cause the plan to crawl back into the bushes of whence it came.
Fans hated the idea, commentators hated the idea, politicians hated the idea, football governing bodies hated the idea – that’s plural – and the concept was driven out of the mouths of any of its minority supporters.
But these are important supporters, with the pocket size that makes a man unused to hearing the word “no”. Is there still a chance that the notorious ESL could still be on the table, perhaps by tweaking the formula?
What was so bad about the ESL concept?
Run by the President of Real Madrid FC as chairman, the vice-chairmen made up of the current chairman of Juventus, co-chairman of Man U, owner of Liverpool FC, and the owner of Arsenal FC, the European Super League would be made up of six English teams, three Italian teams, and four Spanish teams all taking part in a “higher-quality” league made up of “higher-quality matches”, according to chairman Florentino Perez.
The inherent elitism covers this entire subject, which was a particular point for fans, who immediately took to social media to air their grievances. A lot bemoaned a league without their favourite team, since eight Premier League teams were left on the cutting room floor. A snap YouGov poll saw only 14% of participating fans supporting the idea.
But all voices weren’t so small. Commentator Gary Neville called the idea “an act of pure greed”, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was critical, and, finally, Labour and Conservatives came together in a cause as both Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer and Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed their distaste for the concept, which Johnson said was going to damage football. And, of course, UEFA and just about every other football governing body in Europe came together in condemnation.
The idea was said to cause domestic championships to fall into irrelevance and excluded teams with them. People disagreed with the concept of more “high-quality games” leading to more high-quality leagues since the underdog that pulls themselves up to the top is the best narrative in sports history, which the collection of the best teams in the world goes against. Then there were the ticket prices. People search for Premier League tickets because the league epitomises competitiveness, drama.
Is there still a chance?
Well, owners and higher-ups in Real Madrid, Juventus, and Barcelona are the last men standing. Despite the UEFA threatening to expel the teams from domestic competitions, they have loudly continued to support the idea.
However, that’s three left from a collection of what was initially 12. Beyond talk of the spirit of the game and elitism, the argument against the idea is still the fact that it is not financially stable. The best teams in the world demand the highest ticket price tag, which will greatly diminish a working-class audience. The three remaining teams might have to rework their financial plan before anyone is on board again.
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