European Super League

[north_antrim_hound]

This is football heading down the road of American professional franchise sports. Clubs belonging to cities and fan bases? f**k that. That's so 20th century.

No relegation, nothing to play for except the main title.

Then, if your team is shit or support fades away, let's up and move the whole kit and kaboodle to another city.

Remember the Seattle SuperSonics? Now OKC Thunder. Baseball started in California because of a stalemate between the owners of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Robert Moses, longtime infrastructure emperor of NYC. LA said they'd build them a beautiful stadium. SF the same for the Giants, formerly of the Polo Grounds in Harlem. NYC loses two long standing baseball teams in the blink of an eye. May not happen with football, but the possibility is there, with clubs the business possessions of corporations, not entities with roots in a community.

Thing totally f**king stinks.

Correct
Robert Kraft the owner of New England Patriots said he wouldn't invest in a European football club because they can get relegated and knocked out of a competition. If this new format goes ahead then you will see more billionaires getting involved and clubs purchased becoming a global franchise. The whole thing stinks to high heaven and needs to be stamped on now.

[GiveItToTheShooters]

Have to laugh at the fake hysteria. The same people making excuses for the premier league being the exact same thing as it was pre 1992 but only being rebranded, are the same people that claim Liverpool have only won the league once.
You couldn't make it up. Hypocrites. According to them, the "Premier League" is fine, but a big no no to the European super league.
The games gone

It's not really the same thing. Until 1991, all 92 clubs had equal voting rights and in effect a group of the weakest clubs could dictate terms to the largest clubs.

What the PL did was maintain almost identical structures to before, but while ensuring that the biggest clubs could pursue financial arrangements that would allow them to match Italian clubs.

The change was oddly enough an implementation of equality: basically "we all started with an equal chance of getting ahead, but that doesn't mean we have to be equal in all things forever"

As Leicester and Man City have shown, progress through the ranks has always been possible

——

What we are facing now isn't the same thing. It's an attempted corporate takeover of football.

This is no different to the formation of the premier league, it is the same thing.
You confirm that the formation of the premier league put power into the bigger clubs hands, this is exactly the same with the ESL. So it was anything but equality.
City progressed through oil money, Leicester did it more in the proper way, by buying and selling smartly.
My point is that the people who are outraged are the same people who only recognise football post 1992. The hypocrisy is astounding.

Nonsense. The EPL replaced the first division with the full agreement of the clubs and association.

And what.
There is still a rebranding of football going on here, which is what has happened before, from the first division and the old European cup format. You're probably one of the ones who claim Liverpool "only have 1 premier league".
The fake hysteria is rife here.

[BennyCake]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/04/19/sickened-liverpool-backing-shameless-breakaway-fans-will-not/

I am sickened by Liverpool backing shameless breakaway - fans will not tolerate it
Fans will simply not tolerate a plan that places the whole principle of our club system in jeopardy

JAMIE CARRAGHER
19 April 2021 • 6:29am

Funny how the voices on the Kop matter only when it is most convenient.
The more I read about the European super league proposals, the more it seems Liverpool's owners must like empty stadiums because all they have done is raise the likelihood of another mass walkout.
Liverpool's game with Leeds on Monday night could not be better timed to expose the insanity of the closed-shop idea.
It is a game with potentially massive ramifications for Champions League qualification, full of jeopardy, and hence drama.
Millions will tune in for that reason, emotions running high whatever the result. The same anxious excitement will accompany all of Liverpool's remaining seven games, which is why the broadcasters pay millions for them.
That is the beauty of league football – where every action and point matters. That is why, as a former Liverpool player, it sickens me that my club's reputation is being damaged by the arrogance of an ownership group that wants to remove such peril, creating a culture where we no longer need to fight to earn our success. That is the antithesis of everything I understand football – especially in my city – to stand for.
To be tainted by association with the European super league is bad enough, but Liverpool's apparent leading role in threatening football's competitive ideals – the very ideals which allowed the club to emerge from England's second division to become six-time European champions – is a betrayal of a heritage they are seeking to cash in on.
Manchester United's shameless capitalism does not surprise me. United fans will agree that from day one, the Glazers have never hidden the fact they bought the club for the cash. They summed up their contempt for United fans when introducing a system forcing season-ticket holders to pay additional fees for cup matches.
•   European Super League explained: teams, format, winners and losers
But John W Henry is more cunning, courting fans' groups in his early years and presenting himself as keen to engage, yet consistently failing to grasp the culture of the Kop. I was among the paying season-ticket holders who walked out in disgust when Liverpool tried to charge £77 for match tickets in 2016, and only last summer the club were forced to backtrack on their attempts to claim taxpayer funds for furloughed staff.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs will also get rightly hammered for this. Those four always seem happy hiding behind Liverpool and United when the flak is flying.
Whenever these radical schemes emerge, it is an opportunity for everyone to pile in, accusing the so-called "elite" of self-interest. True as that is, the moralistic intervention of Uefa, the Football Association, national leagues and whatever government minister is after a few votes is laughable.
"It's all about money. It's all about greed," they say. Wow. These organisations would jump on any passing gravy train if they thought it would make them richer.
Football, at every level of the professional game, is about money. The notion of English football being a meritocracy at the summit has been a myth since the Premier League formed, with only Blackburn Rovers (bankrolled by Jack Walker) and Leicester City shocking the world. Only seven clubs have won the Premier League in 29 years.
The actions of Liverpool and United, especially, are grounded on a grievance that for too long they have been denied the chance to make more of what they could earn, blocked from using their global popularity to maximise all revenue opportunities.
But that can never justify efforts to destabilise the system without the backing of those they most need – the fans.
Football executives always make the mistake of believing they are the most influential force in football. They swiftly realise that without the supporters, they are weak and powerless.

Fans won't stop this. Even if there's 99.9% against it, it's the elites who will stop it.

If this Super League started in the morning, stadiums would be full*

[yellowcard]

Apart from the corruption, sportswashing and greed, professional football isn't too bad! Add in the removal of any spontaneous emotion through the introduction of VAR, the constant diving and cheating and the totally soulless experience of watching football this season in front of empty seats and I often wonder why Irish fans get so worked up over English premier league teams. See it for what it is, a billionaires plaything where every fan is a 'customer' and everything is measured in monetary terms. When entire nations are using football as a way of projecting soft power and sportswashing you know there is something filthy.

What sport do you follow?

I would follow almost any sport, not sure where you're going with this.

Soccer has many levels. If you object to the circus that is English top flight stuff pick a lower level, or heaven forbid a local club.

None of the above happens in Ireland

That is my very point and the road that professional soccer has been on for many years going back to when Sky money came into the game only reinforces that notion. Id much prefer to follow sport at a local level both GAA and soccer, it feels more authentic. Can still enjoy top level soccer but take it for what it is, just a product and a brand to be monetised. 

[Taylor]

The new Champions League structure was announced where there is space for elite clubs to play in it if they havent qualified.

So in essence making sure the rich clubs qualify for it every year 

Pot calling the kettle black

[BennyHarp]

The owners wont care what the fans think - they'll just move their franchise to a place where the fans want it or the games will just tour around the world - Man Utd v Barcelona in Tokyo, Juve v Real Madrid in New York, Arsenal v Spurs in Omagh.

[J70]

This is football heading down the road of American professional franchise sports. Clubs belonging to cities and fan bases? f**k that. That's so 20th century.

No relegation, nothing to play for except the main title.

Then, if your team is shit or support fades away, let's up and move the whole kit and kaboodle to another city.

Remember the Seattle SuperSonics? Now OKC Thunder. Baseball started in California because of a stalemate between the owners of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Robert Moses, longtime infrastructure emperor of NYC. LA said they'd build them a beautiful stadium. SF the same for the Giants, formerly of the Polo Grounds in Harlem. NYC loses two long standing baseball teams in the blink of an eye. May not happen with football, but the possibility is there, with clubs the business possessions of corporations, not entities with roots in a community.

Thing totally f**king stinks.

Correct
Robert Kraft the owner of New England Patriots said he wouldn't invest in a European football club because they can get relegated and knocked out of a competition. If this new format goes ahead then you will see more billionaires getting involved and clubs purchased becoming a global franchise. The whole thing stinks to high heaven and needs to be stamped on now.

I can't think of a situation much worse than Liverpool sitting around 10th spot in this super league, year after year, winning maybe 8-10 games a season, and with absolutely nothing to play for.

Or worse, sitting in the bottom couple of spots, and still with nothing to play for, as they can't get f**king booted out in favour of another team on the rise.

I live in Queens, and we see it year after year after year with the Mets, playing in August and September to a half-empty stadium as yet another season fizzles out.

[sensethetone]

The owners wont care what the fans think - they'll just move their franchise to a place where the fans want it or the games will just tour around the world - Man Utd v Barcelona in Tokyo, Juve v Real Madrid in New York, Arsenal v Spurs in Omagh.

Don't think the soccer ball pitch is used in Omagh town.. The Casement of the soccer world..

[Baile Brigín 2]

Have to laugh at the fake hysteria. The same people making excuses for the premier league being the exact same thing as it was pre 1992 but only being rebranded, are the same people that claim Liverpool have only won the league once.
You couldn't make it up. Hypocrites. According to them, the "Premier League" is fine, but a big no no to the European super league.
The games gone

It's not really the same thing. Until 1991, all 92 clubs had equal voting rights and in effect a group of the weakest clubs could dictate terms to the largest clubs.

What the PL did was maintain almost identical structures to before, but while ensuring that the biggest clubs could pursue financial arrangements that would allow them to match Italian clubs.

The change was oddly enough an implementation of equality: basically "we all started with an equal chance of getting ahead, but that doesn't mean we have to be equal in all things forever"

As Leicester and Man City have shown, progress through the ranks has always been possible

——

What we are facing now isn't the same thing. It's an attempted corporate takeover of football.

This is no different to the formation of the premier league, it is the same thing.
You confirm that the formation of the premier league put power into the bigger clubs hands, this is exactly the same with the ESL. So it was anything but equality.
City progressed through oil money, Leicester did it more in the proper way, by buying and selling smartly.
My point is that the people who are outraged are the same people who only recognise football post 1992. The hypocrisy is astounding.

I thought premiership money filtered down through to championship clubs so it's not the thing at all.

In terms of competition it's different, in terms of rebranding a competition to make more money out of football as we saw in 1992, it's the same.

So if it's  the same will the new Euro league put 400 mil into the EFL I don't think so, for what it's worth the smaller clubs I think should get more bit to suggest it's the same is wrong.

It's not about money to smaller clubs
They're rebranding a new competition to make more money out of football, which is exactly what we saw in 1992.

Correct. But they didn't reinvent the wheel qnd the rebrand was done with everyones blessing.

This proposal is to leave FIFA and set up a new sport. Its closer to rugbys split than the launch of the EPL

[Baile Brigín 2]

The owners wont care what the fans think - they'll just move their franchise to a place where the fans want it or the games will just tour around the world - Man Utd v Barcelona in Tokyo, Juve v Real Madrid in New York, Arsenal v Spurs in Omagh.

This. The Irish Pool fan is far more valuable than the local to the owners.

And don't be surprised to see rule changes and in game ad breaks

[Sportacus]

No relegation so the whole thing is de-risked for the billionaires.  This isn't going away.  A billionaire could role into Dublin and launch a team for the ESL - strangers things could happen in the future. 

[GetOverTheBar]

The owners wont care what the fans think - they'll just move their franchise to a place where the fans want it or the games will just tour around the world - Man Utd v Barcelona in Tokyo, Juve v Real Madrid in New York, Arsenal v Spurs in Omagh.

Don't think the soccer ball pitch is used in Omagh town.. The Casement of the soccer world..

Could use Healy Park, as long as it doesn't rain in the 20 days prior.

[Hound]

UEFA have announced their plans for revised Champions League - although it doesn't come in until 2024/25
I think you'd have to see it in action to decide whether it's a better or worse than the current version, but can't understand deferring it for 3 and half years!

Number of teams increases from 32 to 36 in the UEFA Champions League, the biggest change will see a transformation from the traditional group stage to a single league stage including all participating teams. Every club will now be guaranteed a minimum of 10 league stage games against 10 different opponents (five home games, five away) rather than the previous six matches against three teams, played on a home and away basis.

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the knockout stage, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.

Similar format changes will also be applied to the UEFA Europa League (8 matches in the league stage) and UEFA Europa Conference League (6 matches in the league stage). Subject to further discussions and agreements, these two competitions may also be expanded to a total of 36 teams each in the league stage.

Qualification for the UEFA Champions League will continue to be open and earned through a team's performance in domestic competitions.

One of the additional places will go to the club ranked third in the championship of the association in fifth position in the UEFA national association ranking. Another will be awarded to a domestic champion by extending from four to five the number of clubs qualifying via the so-called "Champions Path".

The final two places will go to the clubs with the highest club coefficient over the last five years that have not qualified for the Champions League group stage but have qualified either for the Champions League qualification phase, the Europa League or the Europa Conference League.

All games before the final will still be played midweek, recognising the importance of the domestic calendar of games across Europe.

[north_antrim_hound]

Let's call a spade a spade here, it's about American millionaires taking complete control for more financial gain and no governing body of influence. This whole thing happened in F1 a few years back but Bernie ecclestone and the FIA put a stop to the the car manufacturers take over. Mercedes have 1800 people employed at Brackley compared to 600 at Williams. The FIA have now stepped in and put spending caps on teams to even up the field and early signs are it seems to be working. Maybe the positive out of all this is FIFA and their EUEFA will start getting its house in order.

[seafoid]

This is what the Glazers wanted all along. Guaranteed cashflow.