Well the world of football was on fire for the last few days, wasn’t it?
News broke on Sunday that 11 of Europe’s elite clubs, and Spurs, would be casting aside the tradition of Champions League Football and breaking away into their own closed-off European Superleague.
The new format would have generated a staggering, consistent revenue stream for the founding clubs at the detriment of every other club in the world.
A closed-off monopoly where results have no consequences. Domestic leagues with an increasing monetary gap.
International football without the worlds greatest players. This is not what football needs, at its very core is anti-sport, anti-competition. Brought about by the clubs own failings. Rightly so fans were appalled. A more in-depth look into the actual structure of the league can be found here in Robbie Dowling’s article last October.
I have never been more acutely aware over the last few years that Manchester United is big business. I’ve said it before but I may as well be supporting Mars Bar United.
The Lore of the Busby Babes, stories of George Best, Cantona’s swagger, the class of 92, Keano, Champions League finals. All these made me fall involve with the club as a child. I grew up with the side.
Their history became part of my history. Memories forged with my dad, my family, my mates and strangers. This is the same for fans of absolutely every club. If they were so keen to callously cast aside traditions, they would easily do the same to me or you.
This was done to save football. Do me a favour….Football needs to be saved from the greed of capitalism. Make the game more accessible, lower ticket prices, have sustainable television packages.
Rightly so, this seems to have been knocked on its head fairly lively. Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says the League is dead after six English clubs withdrew from the competition. Agnelli says he remains convinced of the “beauty of the project” and believes it could have been the best club football competition in the world.
Well now it’s dead, hopefully, some good comes out of it and it’s used as a catalyst for a wider look at the money side of the game……
I doubt it though, lets not forget that FIFA and Uefa were the big winners here after all. I’ll take it as a minor win for the fans. The integrity of competition remains for now,
As Pele said
“The more difficult the victory, the greater the happiness in winning.”
I am happy we won, the fans that is, it seemed impossible. I won’t deny though that it was made all the sweeter by the fact that they lost.
Especially Spurs….the neeeeeeeccccckkkkkk!