Red Report: Our take on the ESL

Our branch WhatsApp blew up last week over the proposed European Super League. We invited a couple of comrades to put their thoughts down for the blog, and they did not disappoint. First up, Dom gives us his wry take on the whole sorry tale...

In a way, it was quite beautiful while it lasted: after the announcement late on Sunday 18th of April, up ‘til Tuesday, the owners of 12 of the biggest clubs in Europe achieved the impossible and united football supporters of all teams, politicians of all persuasions, all national newspapers and rival owners in condemning their plans for a European Super League (ESL) which had reportedly been three years in the making (in its present form) and cost £8,000,000 to reach its current level of chaos.

The plans were for a midweek competition featuring twelve of the biggest clubs in the game. From England: Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea, and from the continent: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan. These would be joined by eight invited clubs to play in two leagues of ten, culminating in an eight-team knock out to decide who would achieve the prestigious title of ‘unofficial team of the year’. Or something like that.

The plans made perfect sense from a business viewpoint, eliminating all those annoying elements of competition that threaten the investment of the owners, such as ‘competition’ itself and - while many supporters complain of teams like Man City ‘buying success’- this meant that they would never fail to be given a pass to the richest league in the world, even if the poorer teams were to do something really unsporting, like beat them at football. The stockholders naturally loved it, with Man U’s shares increasing by 9%, and Juve’s by 19%, but they were the only ones who did.

To many, this is where it crossed a line. Fans held protests outside the grounds, UEFA President Aleksander Čefarin called the owners “snakes” and threatened the clubs and their players with expulsion from all UEFA competitions, Jurgen Klopp and the Liverpool team put on a united front against the new league and, closer to home, fan-owned FC United of Manchester received a glut of new members. Even the government - who have been understandably skittish about weighing into football since David Cameron forgot which football team he supports - pulled no punches, stating they were “exploring every possibility, including legislative options, to ensure these proposals are stopped”.

A subsequent Sunday Times report suggesting that (now former) Man United Executive Vice-Chairmen Ed Woodward understood that Boris Johnson supported the ESL from their meeting several days before it was announced must, of course, be dismissed if we are to believe in the integrity and honesty of our PM.

On Tuesday 20th April, Chelsea were the first team to withdraw, rapidly toppling the rest of the English dominoes, and soon the European Super League had collapsed entirely.

So what happens now? The half-hearted apologies issued by the clubs’ owners are hardly-encouraging, and the Champion’s League revamp which has understandably passed under the radar shows that UEFA continue their decades long policy of appeasement towards the football giants. A promised “fan led” government review has led supporters to hope for a German-style 50% plus one system of fan ownership (Borussia Dortmund and European champions Bayern Munich both rejected the ESL) but, once the dust settles, don’t count on this.

If the government admit that their own brand of crony capitalism is entirely disastrous for football, then people might also question its suitability for energy companies, banks, transport, healthcare, general industry etc. and we wouldn’t want that. Would we?

Anthony also had a few points to make about the debacle in the context of the current events:

My thoughts on the furore surrounding the “new super league”...

I only wish the public would show the same outrage to a corrupt elitist government handing contracts out to family and friends.

The game has lost touch with the working class who now cannot afford to watch it on television yet alone pay the extortionate ticket prices.

We are encouraged to clap for our brave NHS workers while Boris offers them a derisory 1% raise for their efforts. Meanwhile young footballers some straight out of school are earning £30/40/50k a week.

Foreign owners using clubs as a means of shifting their “dirty cash”. The same theory that applies to life is being played out in football “the rich clubs are getting richer and the poor clubs are going bust”. Most clubs are sponsored by betting companies and pander to their markets. In summary the future looks bleak for the game in sporting terms but prosperous for their owners.