The Footballing fraternity erupted in outrage yesterday as twelve of Europe's top clubs, including the "Big 6" English clubs, announced they had signed up to a European Super League, a closed shop of elite clubs that would compete against each other. Now, this idea has been mooted for as long as I've been a passionate follower of the game, and there has been clear mission creep over the years as the European Champions Cup became the Champions League, which then admitted teams who weren't actually "champions". However, the fact that these clubs have now officially declared their intent has brought home the reality that maybe, just maybe, this thing might now be happening.
However, what will be the outcome, and has this been done as a deflection tactic? Will it turn out that this move is designed to get the fraternity to accept what it considers the lesser of two huge evils?
Initial Reaction
The bombshell agreement hit in time for Gary Neville and co to comment on it during Sky's live coverage, and the reaction from Neville was predictable in its passion and outrage.
For me, as a supporter of one of the "have nots" of the game, whose existence is driven by occasional player sales (that in itself denigrated by the EPPP formula that means the top clubs can cherry pick lower division talent for peanuts) and the odd trip to the top clubs in the cups, I labour under the forlorn hope that one day we will break through and become one of the "haves" of the game instead. The beauty of the game is that I've seen the players of little old Exeter go toe to toe, and indeed draw with, teams like Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton. On one memorable night in January 2005 I was stood on the Big Bank as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes et al were run all the way before seeing us off 2-0 while we were a non-league side.
Yesterday's announcement threatens future generations from being able to experience the same euphoria. It shows that these six clubs care not for the machinations of the pyramid, rather whatever furthers their own ambitions.
Now, unlike others I don't begrudge them their ambition. However, they can't have their cake and eat it. If they are willing to take a draconian step to sign up to a new league, the reaction needs to be similarly draconian. The FA (and UEFA) need to step in to ensure that this European Super League operates in complete isolation - and while it may be thought that this could be a measure to cut off their nose to spite their face, I'm sure the FA would enjoy broad support were they to strip the "Big 6" of their FA affiliation. To that end, that would lead to the clubs being banned from competing in FA-sanctioned competitions, while I would go a step further and ban the clubs from signing players registered to FA-affiliated clubs. The clubs' players would also be banned from competing under the FA banner (i.e. for England) - something which would need to be done in tandem with UEFA and FIFA in order to make the players consider whether they wish to compete in their closed shop or in global competitions such as the World Cup. Many may choose the former - that's their prerogative and they're welcome to decide.
The Stalking Horse Approach
The reason I considered in the title of this piece that it's possibly a red herring, is that the timing of the European Super League announcement was very convenient, and the outrage generated could allow for something almost as heinous to slip through without fanfare. In this I'm minded of an episode of "Yes, Prime Minister", where Jim Hacker is trying without success to get the Treasury to agree to a tax cut of £1.5 billion. In order to get this through, he instead pretends to show support for a plan which would cost the Treasury £4 billion in tax revenue through taxing smoking into oblivion. The Treasury, spooked at the thought of losing £4 billion, decides to drop its opposition to the £1.5 billion tax cut.
So where does this fit in, and why is the timing so important? Well, today UEFA is due to announce planned changes to the Champions League format which, under normal circumstances, would lead to similar outrage. While I've not had the chance to go into the proposed format in detail, the basics seem to suggest a revamped group stage with extra teams and extra matches. Clubs involved would have to make decisions around whether they could compete in domestic cup competitions (for England this would mean probably withdrawing from, or entering their U23 team, into the EFL Cup), and there are further possible implications around the size of the Premier League and the ability to shoehorn 38 matches into a season where the top clubs are playing a stack of extra Champions League games.
As a result, there is a nagging feeling that what we have here is the Hacker tactic. The FA and their equivalents in the other major UEFA nations are faced with bad idea A or bad idea B. Bad idea A means the FA has to do some major reorganisation to accommodate the "Big 6", perhaps reducing the size of the Premier League, perhaps scrapping or totally downgrading the EFL Cup. Bad Idea B means losing the "Big 6" (and their revenue generation and support) totally. Which is, therefore, the lesser of two evils?
Either way, the biggest losers from this blackmail are the mugs who turn up week in week out at grounds up and down the country. Perhaps it's time the FA called the bluff of the "Big 6" and told them to go and play in their league and revoke their FA affiliation. Should this ESL be a failure, the clubs would be welcome to reapply for FA affiliation, but they'd have to start at the bottom of the pyramid. The thought of the Manchester clubs and Liverpool playing in the North West Counties league would be very funny indeed.
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