Kicking Off: The Rise and Fall of the Super League

The rise and rapid fall of the European Super League made front-page news all over the world, was discussed in UK Parliament and was angrily protested by fans at club stadia all over Europe.

In April 2021, in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, the owners and executives of a cabal of top clubs attempted a bullish and brazen power grab to shape the football in their unscrupulous terms for their own benefit.

Years of secret talks and backroom dealings culminated in a seismic late-night announcement – these dozen continental rivals were joining forces and breaking away from centuries of sporting tradition to launch a brand-new competition.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham were the ‘big six’ English clubs, alongside Spanish trio Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, and Italian sides Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus, who agreed to join a new European Super League.

Although they claimed the move would secure the financial future of football for the next 23 years, it was widely criticised as a cynical attempt to put profit above the game’s fundamental principle – namely that any team can strive for success through on-field performance alone.

The Premier League issued a quick condemnation of this attempt to seize control of the revenues of the sport, and its sentiments were later followed by the FA, UEFA and other stakeholders.

In the media, one of the biggest and most vocal critics was respected Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville. In a passionate rant he said: “Well the reaction to it is that it’s been damned, and rightly so. I’m a Manchester United fan and have been for 40 years of my life but I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted. I’m disgusted with United and Liverpool most.