Football has been going to hell in a handcart for a few years now, this is the final straw. I wonder what their revenue streams would be like if everyone refused to pay to watch?
I just hope the governing bodies have the balls to throw Chelsea out of the FA Cup and remove the breakaway six from the Premier League NOW. The brass necks of these owners - a competition they run themselves, with only themselves included and probably at venues (countries) that will exclude most fans from having the resources to watch.
UEFA and FIFA have to come out against this, or its the end of their power and income. If the Euro works then an Americas league will follows, as will and Asian league and then they'll have their own world cup with the top teams from each league.
The problem is that UEFA and FIFA don't have much power here. All they can do is threaten to ban clubs and players. Will players be that fussed? Man City offer to pay Phil Foden £500k a week to give up England, whilst any players outside of the super leagues will do well to earned a fifth of that once the TV deals all come up for renewal.
I reckon it would have been guaranteed to push clubs into committing. It doesn't matter. let them do what they want. All of their prize money for this season can be used to sort out a new structure. We don't want the clubs remaining to take these club's places, we need a league structure that is run for all football clubs. It will be refreshing.
Having now read the statement fully I'm in complete disbelief. They're basically sticking two fingers up at UEFA and saying they're going to play in their own little side tournament and screw the champions League and they then still expect the domestic leagues and cups to play around them?
This is absolute treason and no way will they be allowed to have their cake and eat it and no way will they be allowed to walk away from domestic leagues without serious legal trouble.
Wow, football is so ugly at the moment. This won't happen right?
No it won't probably end up happening, but you may see returns disgusting such as teams at the top getting weighed votes and bigger shares of income/ garunteed later round entries in cup competitions/ relegation exemption just in case.
They need to be kicked out of all domestic competitions immediately. How long will their fans accept meaningless games against the same sides year in year out. No more Merseyside derbies, no more North London derbies. How exciting.
Hundreds of thousands of people, up and down the country, spend, individually, thousands of pounds a year to go and watch football. None of them are going to watch the opposition, they’re there to watch their team. Newcastle, Leeds, Everton, West Ham, Sunderland, Wolves, Villa etc. will still draw large crowds to watch them. Football has existed for over a hundred years and did so just fine without massive TV deals for most of that time. It will need to adjust but it can definitely still thrive. It won’t be special to see Man Utd play Barcelona 4 times a season, those games are exciting because they only happen every few years, and even the current Champions League format has removed the shine form some of those types of fixtures.
The reason why a lot of people will go and watch those teams (and our own) is because deep down there is that dream that one day they could reach the top - no matter how unrealistic it may seem. Once you take the notion of that away, there will be a lot of supporters who will lose interest. The purpose would have been completely lost.
And give it 10-20 years when the next generation of fans come through - the concept of supporting a team in the 'B-structure' outside of the Super League would feel redundant.
This is the worst thing that has happened to the game in a long, long time.
It’s going to be an interesting few days. I say ban any player that plays in the tournament for life. Also uefa should carry on with there new plan without these twelve bastards. Basically ostracise them. I’m fuming !
Genuinely makes me feel physically sick. Mark Chapman hit the nail on the head. The soul of the game for a live stream in China. First quote from the "Big 6" was from a Glazer. Football doesn't involve franchises and drafts here mate.
Part of the problem is these clubs are global brands. Their local fans won't be happy but they have markets around the world. They will play games in the US and in Asia but ultimately it will go stale. It is going to be hard for a lot of clubs to lose the money, but there is an opportunity to create something better. Sky and other channels need to stick with the domestic league and fans can dream again. Only this time, ensure the league is sustainable for all of its clubs.
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 mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.
AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid 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 ten, 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 Perez, Real Madrid president 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.”
Err no. Additionally no match officials should be allowed by their respective FA's to officiate in the Super Dooper Pooper Scooper League. Nor should any club be allowed to participate at any academy level domestically.
The super League relies on plastics giving up on a hundred years of history for something new and shiny. Do they sound like the sort of fans who will stick with a club that can't win
The official statement does them no favours at all. The only "concession" to the rest of the football world appears to be that they are "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". Laughable.
Not surprising, but utterly disgusting the contempt that the people controlling the purse strings at the biggest clubs have for the games history. This is so anti competitive in a system where every team had a chance, (all be it very small in a lot of cases) to reach and play at the highest level, we came close not long ago and teams such as Ipswich and Leicester got to play on these stages. I think there is a big divide in football following now, there are the supporters, such as most people on here who go to games or have done in the past and have some kind of affinity with the club they support, usually a local link. Then there are the fans from all over the world who pick a team based on some arbitrary reason more often than not current success and watch on tv, paying money for subscriptions and taking in advertising as they do. This market is far larger and I guess has a bigger commercial appeal, but could ruin the very foundations of our game. In my view, and I am not holding out much hope here, the Premier League, UEFA, the FA et al, need to be decisive and brutal, throw all these teams out of their respective leagues, ban players (if possible) from playing in other competitions if they represent those clubs and shut off all avenues for other competition to them, making their product extremely limited and ultimately unattractive.
This is a massive challenge to the future of the game and must be put down before it has a chance to permanently change the landscape.
Let them go, but institute a full boycott of those involved, cutting them off from the rest of football. No friendlies, no reserve leagues, loans or future selection for representative national teams. Ban all transfers with the breakaway clubs, and any club seeking to be a member of any national League will have to enter at the lowest possible level.
And make sure that everyone involved in football and the wider public treats the breakaway to the same sort of sporting and cultural isolation as South Africa in most of the 1970s and 1980s.
Comments
If those fans of the big clubs turn against the owners I don’t have a clue how bad it could get.
Football, for some people is their life. Messing with that is risky business.
The problem is that UEFA and FIFA don't have much power here. All they can do is threaten to ban clubs and players. Will players be that fussed? Man City offer to pay Phil Foden £500k a week to give up England, whilst any players outside of the super leagues will do well to earned a fifth of that once the TV deals all come up for renewal.
This is absolute treason and no way will they be allowed to have their cake and eat it and no way will they be allowed to walk away from domestic leagues without serious legal trouble.
And give it 10-20 years when the next generation of fans come through - the concept of supporting a team in the 'B-structure' outside of the Super League would feel redundant.
This is the worst thing that has happened to the game in a long, long time.
Additionally no match officials should be allowed by their respective FA's to officiate in the Super Dooper Pooper Scooper League.
Nor should any club be allowed to participate at any academy level domestically.
Yup and I have to say one of the most surprising things about all this is that PSG aren't involved.
And what about players, I can't see the likes of Marcus Rashford or Harry Kane being happy either?
It is about to swallow its own shit. Good riddance
The last time they won anything there was still only 4 channels on the tele.
Slimy toadlike chairman must be the rquesit to get a seat at this table I assume.
I think there is a big divide in football following now, there are the supporters, such as most people on here who go to games or have done in the past and have some kind of affinity with the club they support, usually a local link. Then there are the fans from all over the world who pick a team based on some arbitrary reason more often than not current success and watch on tv, paying money for subscriptions and taking in advertising as they do. This market is far larger and I guess has a bigger commercial appeal, but could ruin the very foundations of our game.
In my view, and I am not holding out much hope here, the Premier League, UEFA, the FA et al, need to be decisive and brutal, throw all these teams out of their respective leagues, ban players (if possible) from playing in other competitions if they represent those clubs and shut off all avenues for other competition to them, making their product extremely limited and ultimately unattractive.
And make sure that everyone involved in football and the wider public treats the breakaway to the same sort of sporting and cultural isolation as South Africa in most of the 1970s and 1980s.
In other words, "F*ck'em".
Remember Sunday 18/4/21. It could be the day that this schism kills football as we know it.
This is going to be a blood bath.