Why We Care More About Football Club Ownership Than Ever Post Super-League

The news which rocked the core of football surrounded the introduction of a European Super League. Many of what are considered to be the ‘biggest clubs’ in European football got together and decided it was a good idea to create a league competition for themselves. The teams involved were Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Arsenal.

The basis of the move by the clubs was money and the huge bonuses the owners would have been making from the league. Fortunately for fans who want to back their team on the pitch, there are many different types of sports bonuses you can claim.

Out of the clubs named above, six of them are from the English Premier League and there was huge uproar among fans and pundits when the news about the league was announced. The backlash was so strong that within 72 hours the European Super League crumbled as clubs quickly backtracked and pulled out of the competition.

There are many reasons why fans did not want the competition to go ahead, including the fact there was no relegation, the teams would pull out of the Champions League and they may also have been forced to leave the Premier League. Any income from the clubs in the European Super League which would have worked its way down the pyramid of English football would be stopped and that would have been a disaster for the game.

We have witnessed several protests from fans of English Premier League clubs, with the one at Old Trafford prior to the meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool being the most prominent. The fans managed to get the match postponed and the majority of people backed their stance and right to protest.

Gary Neville, formerly of Manchester United asked for urgent reform in English football and fans now care about ownership more than ever before. Supporters have witnessed what it is like to see foreign owners of clubs try and take their team away from them in recent weeks. There was no consultation with the fans regarding the European Super League and the owners of the teams were looking at the money and nothing else. Even the British government became involved and said they would protect the English football pyramid by bringing forward a fan-led review into English football, with new ownership structures at the heart of the discussion.

Fans have clearly had enough of the power owners are having over their football clubs and the proposed European Super League has brought that frustration to boiling point. The Premier League is to bring in a new owners’ charter in an attempt stop future attempts by clubs to join a breakaway Super League. All owners of English clubs will have to sign up to the new rule “committing them to the core principles” of the league with breaches punished by “significant” sanctions.

There is no doubt the events surrounding the European Super League have rocked English football and fans are now eager to take back control of their clubs.

Chris Beaumont
Chris Beaumont
Lover all things football nostalgia. Never happier than pointing the finger of fun at the modern game. Often found trawling through old footage or reading someone's autobiography.
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