And so it has happened.
In an unparalleled moment for European football, 12 top clubs from across the continent – including the Premier League’s big six – have announced the formation of a new midweek competition to compete with UEFA’s Champions League.
Milan, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as so-called founding clubs, with Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, Juve chairman Andrea Agnelli and Man Utd co-chairman Joel Glazer are obviously big players in the shaking.
Super League announced pic.twitter.com/nAooYowBZ3
– Rob Harris (@RobHarris) April 18, 2021
Three more clubs are expected to join The Super League, which will start “as soon as possible”.
The announcement and previous revelations about the potential proposals have sent shock waves through the football world and have met with deep outrage on social media, with many pointing to greed from football clubs in modern times to the detriment of fans.
Furious to be honest with you. Such a cheeky attempt to protect yourself from consequences, but then to portray yourself as some kind of player at the same time? It is rare to also witness such cowardice of brass.
– Carl Anka (@ Ankaman616) April 18, 2021
12 clubs undertook to completely reshape football as we know it and announce it without consultation of fans, and take advantage of a global pandemic where we can not even be in arenas to express our opposition.
Cynical, arrogant, cowardly self-interest. https://t.co/pgu7Dz04Qf
– George Starkey-Midha (@GStarkeyMidha) April 18, 2021
Fantastic … @ManUtd too scared of their own fans reaction to even tweet the announcement
– Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) April 18, 2021
You really know that something is wrong when fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Tottenham all agree on something and hate the super league! #NoToSuperLeague
– CarefreeYouth (@CarefreeYouth) April 18, 2021
This #ESL is shameless, which ensures that these greedy founding clubs never miss. This is a scam of a sports competition and should be resisted by anyone who cares about football. Fans will fight against this. Players must fight this. Sponsors should be embarrassed to be associated with this. pic.twitter.com/WrL85BtfED
– Henry Winter (@henrywinter) April 18, 2021
Others did not surprisingly focus on the fact that north London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham should probably not be considered Europe’s top clubs at the moment …
Have you not qualified for the Champions League since 2016-2017? https://t.co/cFfnwOCJsD
– Sacha Pisani (@ Sachk0) April 18, 2021
Everton 2-2 SpursArsenal 1-1 FulhamAtalanta 1-0 Juventus
“Time to make a Super League boys.”
– FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 18, 2021
Gary Neville: “Manchester United, Spurs and Arsenal are not even in the Champions League. Arsenal are a club of a club and they expect gods to have the right to enter the European Super League? It’s disgusting. Deduction points. Deduction of money. Penalty them.”
– SPORTbible (@sportbible) April 18, 2021
Arsenal and Tottenham will be Sheffield United and Burnley in the Super League.
– Conn (@ConnCFC) April 18, 2021
Juventus are 4th in Serie A, Arsenal are closer to Crystal Palace than securing the top four, Tottenham are 7th and are knocked out of Europe by a club whose manager is in prison … no wonder these clubs want to create their own Super League.
– Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) April 18, 2021
“European Super League” does not have two Champions League finalists from last season – de facto two best teams in Europe.
Instead, it has a mid-table Arsenal and a very terrible Tottenham team.
Good start guys? https://t.co/Rp6PeIhQFb
– Jack Gallagher (@calciolovesjack) April 18, 2021
Nothing about the Super League was safe from serious scrutiny, some tweets will point out that the competition’s logo is a bit … naff.
Absolute tinpot pic.twitter.com/UlD8NhzYN6
– Hunter Godson (@HunterGodson) April 18, 2021
Super League logos pic.twitter.com/eVzD99KD3Z
– Jimmy (@EntireDesign_) April 18, 2021
There are lots of mistakes and disgusting things about the Super League.
But imagine promising “a new chapter in European football, ensuring world-class competition and facilities” while * THIS * is the best thing you can do with your brand? pic.twitter.com/Gl4kweD2oZ
– Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) April 18, 2021
An official statement even dared to go into the financial benefits of the newly formed competition and said that the Super League ‘will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football through a long-term commitment of unlimited solidarity payments that will grow in line with league revenues.
I just threw it in my mouth? pic.twitter.com/Au8yF98DSp
– Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) April 18, 2021
The new league would consist of 20 teams: 15 founding members who cannot be relegated and five teams that qualify annually. However, it would not replace the Premier League or other domestic competitions – it would run together, in the same way that the Champions League currently works.
A statement revealed that the competition would begin in August, with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away matches, and the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Teams that finish in fourth and fifth place will then compete in a two-legged match for the remaining quarter-final positions. A knockout format with two legs will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be arranged as a single match in a neutral place.
