The birth, death and future of the European Super League

Late on the night of Sunday, April 18, 12 of Europe’s top clubs – including the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ – announced themselves as founder members of a new European Super League, governed by the clubs.

Within 72 hours it had collapsed, with all six English clubs having withdrawn amid Government pressure and fan outrage.

But what motivated those behind it, how and when did the idea gain traction, why did it fail so spectacularly, and is UEFA’s revamped Champions League a Super League by another name, as a Premier League fans’ group sees it?

The PA news agency spoke to individuals who were involved in the seismic events of 12 months ago, on condition of anonymity.

UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) developed a plan over the course of 2018 and 2019 which effectively granted the 24 best-finishing teams in the Champions League passage to the next season’s 32-team group phase.

Europe’s leagues and fans’ group publicly called it out as a ‘closed league’ and the plans were shelved.

Planning for the Super League that broke cover in April 2021 had been three years in the making. Discussions intensified in early 2020. What differentiated these talks from those that had gone before was that they were being conducted at owner level.

Owners became frustrated, seeing themselves as the ones taking all the risk with their investments, and saw a Super League, free from the threat of relegation, as a path to greater certainty. Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United are known to have been involved from an early stage.

What seems incredible to learn now though is that the initial offering mentioned supporters – how ticket pricing should be set, arrangements for away travel for a continental league, and so on. But by launch