I'm slightly baffled by some of the opinions put forward by various parties in regard to this Super League. The statement put forward by the FA, UEFA, Premier League etc, mentions protecting open competition and sporting merit, but I am rather puzzled because I don't see any kind of open competition at all. In our league, for example. The team below us recently posted a loss of £40m. A year after posting another loss of £40m. Hardly open competition. Or the team down the road, which lost nearly £40m, lied about it, and were deducted six measly points. Norwich smashed the league and will be one of the favourites for relegation, just like West Brom smashed the league and will get relegated and er, Norwich again, who smashed the league only to get relegated. There is no competition, and the idea a club like Norwich could dream to one day be amongst the elite is laughable, so we have no chance. The best Norwich can hope for is a three-nil loss at Anfield instead of a four-nil loss. The FA, PL, EFL were fine with this as long as they got their cut, so to pretend now that they give a **** about the state of the game is contemptible. Almost as contemptible as Leeds players wearing shirts saying "football is for the fans" when their club charged £39 a ticket to away supporters, or Gary Neville, who along with his mates owns a club who have bought their way up the league. Open competition right there. I have to laugh at the people cheering him on as he rants on Sky, the company who have done more than anybody to bleed football dry. Then there is UEFA, a disgusting organisation with absolutely no claim to the moral high ground. Their newly proposed Champions League also includes letting teams with more history qualify, I suspect they are relatively grateful of all this furor diverting attention from that fact. But for them to claim anything about this is cynical when they held a Europa League final in Azerbaijan with complete disregard for the fans might be the most hypocritical of the lot. I don't blame the clubs for wanting to do this, why wouldn't you when every governing body, competitor, broadcaster, owner have repeatedly demonstrated that they don't give a ****, that as long as they can wet their beaks then the free-for-all can continue. They all need trashing. Hopefully there will now be the appetite to change things.
I think there's different categories or levels (can't think of the right word) when it comes to open competition. The financial aspect is one that authorities have been getting wrong time and time again for over 20 years, but the hatred for this Super League competition is because it completely eliminates relegation for a select few purely based on finance and being chosen to be part of this exclusive club. That's as far away from open competition as you can get. You're also too quick to rubbish the success teams can have. Burnley have established themselves as a Premier League club and even had a run at European football, whilst I think Norwich will give it a good go next season in the Premier League and have every chance long term of being a mid-table Premier League club. In France you've got Lille at the top of the league followed by PSG, Lyon and Monaco. I think there's only four points separating them all. Bayern Munich have dominated in Germany for a decade but Wolfsburg won the league out of nowhere, we had Leicester here, and there's nearly always a surprise team qualifying for the Champions League in various countries. That's what is being shut down and that's what everyone is united behind. There's pretty much examples of corruption at every level in businesses as big as football. It isn't great, but by being angry about this particular issue it doesn't have to mean hypocrisy elsewhere. Maybe this will lead to some of the things you mentioned being rebalanced, maybe it won't, but I do know everyone is right to be standing against this.
This is a continuation of the journey which started with the formation of the Premiere League. No change, all planned from day one. They will not be happy until they have this super league with their second elevens playing in one division/league in England with all others teams abandoned to minor leagues and competitions.
And that is why they need to be kicked out and not placated. The whole U21s nonsense in cup competitions should be stopped too.
I agree. In my case though, the only interest I still have in professional football is BFC. Slowly but surely the game is being strangled by the money-men, and the current development is simply the next step in the process.
Leeds won the Championship last last year and are currently comfortably mid-table. Only the other week they were reduced to 10 men at Man City and held on to win the game. Should they have just rolled over 3-1 or 4-1 after the red card? We are unbeaten at Anfield since 1958 - should we just roll over and let them win when we play there? WBA only beat Brentford and Fulham by 2pts - indeed, if we had lost at Brentford in the last game they would have been promoted and us relegated. Yes, teams throughout the English and European league systems are trying to buy success and spending above their means. Many of us on here have been grumbling about the lack of FA/League action to stop this - with teams like Birmingham, Derby, Reading, Wednesday and many others being serial offenders and running at an unsustainable loss in the gamble of promotion - or rewarded for "financial doping" to avoid relegation. In the EPL, Liverpool apparently posted a £120m loss last season & Arsenal £47m - how is this even possible with the amount of money that they get every season? Maybe the league should have a salary cap - and reward clubs with extra points for every million under that amount they spend. We'd probably be on +20 at the start of the season and have been promoted weeks ago
Great post and totally agree. I'm really apathetic to the €$L to be honest - I want them to go and not come back and hopefully we can create something more meritocratic in it's place. The faux horror from the MSM is nauseating. If we bargain with them to maintain some sort of status quo then we'll end up with second teams and other ***** that will create even less fair competition.
