What a rollercoaster of a ride the whole of football went on over the course of a day or so recently…
In case you’ve been hiding under a rock and somehow missed all of the news stories that rocked the sport globally, 12 of Europe’s ‘biggest’ teams all joined forces to create a new league that would challenge the current UEFA Champions League set-up…. a competition where the governing body managed to make a number of changes quietly as everyone was up in arms.
Following the announcement late on a Sunday night, many football fans would have woken up to the news that the European Super League was formed.
This competition was designed by those ‘big’ sides as a way to guarantee themselves a lucrative slice of pie, whilst also seemingly foregoing the competitive nature that football provides as they would guarantee their place in the competition for a number of years. Madness.
There is no shame or reason as to why new competitions can not happen, with other sports in the past having been rather successful in implementing them such as cricket with their Indian Premier League format where cricket is the most popular sport, with football close behind.
However, when the essence of the sport and its competitive nature has basically been wiped out, then there are questions as to what the actual point of playing the matches is, whilst others would argue it also ruined football at a domestic level as those teams would essentially have nothing to compete for if they were guaranteed their spot.
Indeed, there is no hiding from the fact that money was ultimately involved, with many pointing fingers at it being the key reason as to why some of the football clubs were so keen in breaking away and forming this competition.
But, with the fan revolt felt across the continent, the European Super League disbanded in the blink of an eye as mass protests were held immediately after the announcement was made at the games being played.
Chelsea fans blocked their team bus from entering the stadium as they held a mass protest outside of Stamford Bridge ahead of their drab affair against Brighton, whilst Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United and other fans all staged their own similar protests.
Let’s be real, there is no way that the clubs involved will ever be forgiven for their involvement in the initial stages and withdrawing from the competition almost immediately after it became apparent how much it was detested will not have softened the blow for many.
But, thankfully for now, the European Super League is no more, but it would not be a surprise if it were to rise its ugly head again in a few years or so.
