My friend, fellow Socialist, and Football nut John Reid, wrote in the 2019 version of his pamphlet, “Reclaim the Game”, about the talk of a breakaway European Super League. I have adapted this from his recent post on Facebook where he quotes from his pamphlet. Some details have been updated, one or two may be out of date.
❝Yet again there is talk of a breakaway European Super League. It should be named the Corporate Greed League.
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| John Reid’s Pamphlet, 2014 Cover |
Inexplicably, Tottenham Hotspur have been added to the so called Super 5 as have mid-table Arsenal (my team), neither have ever been crowned European Champions. The other four are Chelsea, Liverpool, and the two big Manchester clubs.
So far only 12 clubs have signed up, they hope for 20. So far, mighty Bayern Munich have declined as have all German clubs. Paris Saint Germane of France have also declined, although talks continue.
The League would comprise of two pools of 10 (A Women’s League would also be set up) playing mid week, it is unclear whether or not there would be relegation, or would a core of 15 be perpetually in this League.
Reclaim the Game outlined that the seeds of Football greed were sown in 1992 with the breakaway Premier League (which John’s club QPR were part of), but at least the Premier League retained promotion and relegation and money did trickle down to the lower leagues, the football pyramid and grass roots football.
UEFA laughably criticise the super league as an exercise in greed, but it was UEFA that encouraged and cultivated this greed by abandoning the European Cup and introducing the Champions League, which formed the framework for this breakaway.
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| Reclaim the Game, 2019 cover |
Personally I would give the 6 clubs 48 hours to withdraw their names from these proposals or they would be suspended from all domestic competitions.
There are hundreds of other clubs with huge loyal fan bases if the greedy six football corporations want to breakaway so be it. Hopefully the revolt of fans at these clubs will block the moves of the billionaire owners.
This move by the Corporate Clubs may be an attempt to force UEFA to give more money to the big clubs and to restructure the Champions League. In other words, they are attempting to hold the football authorities hostage.
Football belongs to the fans we must fight to reclaim the game. Let us kick out the billionaire corporate owners from our game.❞
The proposals that seem to be emerging include 15 permanent members of this league, plus 5 who come and go by invitation. That means that none of the 15 can ever be relegated. It doesn't matter if you win or lose. Possible sanctions by FIFA and UEFA could include banning Super League teams from domestic competition, and even banning Super League players from International Football. Well, let’s hope that UEFA and FIFA don’t bottle it, and that they go on an enforce these sanctions.
This Friday, 23rd April, the Socialist Party is holding a Public Meeting to Reclaim the Game at 6:30pm. Follow this link for details.
