Burnley defender Ben Mee has revealed that the Super League debacle has helped unite the captains of the 20 Premier League clubs and has thrown the proposal to the league.
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Football was recently thrown into turmoil when 12 of Europe’s elite sides undertook to join the Super League, even though the plans lasted just over 48 hours when the majority of competition participants began to withdraw.
Ben Mee has spoken out about his disgust with Super League saga Gareth Copley / Getty Images
Mee said he and his team-mates were on the team bus after their defeat to Manchester United when the news broke about the plans and that they were “furious” over the announcement.
The Burnley man revealed that he is part of a WhatsApp group made up of all Premier League club captains, and the Super League saga along with the initiative to help the NHS last year has helped bring the 20 clubs together.
“You know things are serious when Jordan Henderson sends a message to the Premier League captains’ WhatsApp group,” he wrote in an article with The Guardian.
“The captains are willing to put rivalries aside and talk to each other, something I do not think would have happened last year.
Ben Mee found out plans for his team against United | Stu Forster / Getty Images
“We like to believe that we have had a positive impact on this and our fundraising for the NHS, and hopefully we can continue to do so on a wide range of topics for the benefit of the game and society.”
Mee vented his anger over the Super League proposal, adding that the players are fans as much as anyone else and that the seriousness of the situation was not lost on them.
“We are not just players, we are football fans who have grown up with the sport and know what it means for people in the stands and at home,” he said. “We are the lucky ones who live out our childhood dreams and the ones who pay their hard earned money every weekend to see teams play.
“Football players play for the fans, not people in boardrooms. No one scores a goal or makes one last match to get the owners’ praise.
Ben Mee criticized Florentino Perez | Soccrates Images / Getty Images
“They do it for the feeling they get when the crowd roars. The feeling of elation when we win is the same as it was as a child, something those who do not know about football can not relate to.”
Claret’s captain hinted at Super League chairman Florentino Perez, and while laughing at Perez’s suggestion that 90 minutes of play is too long, he had a very simple summary of how the breakthrough competition idea was created.
“Perez sounds like someone who’s a little desperate to make money for a club with a lot of debt,” he said.
Couldn’t have put it better myself, Ben.
