Then 'big clubs'.

[Dr. Feelgood]

A Telegraph article today reveals what we all knew, that the European 'Super-League' idea never went away.

Largely because so many clubs are simply rolling in debt.

New Super League launched to replace Champions League with 60-80-team tournament

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus understood to have contacted more than 50 clubs in the hope of creating a new European tournament

The European Super League backers have revealed today that they want to launch a new version of the project that crashed two years ago: a multi-division competition of 60 to 80 teams with no permanent members, and a minimum of 14 games per club, per season.

The announcement was made in various European newspapers by A22, the Madrid-based sister company of the Super League (ESL), and timed to coincide with a new push from the three remaining rebels Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus to continue their battle with Uefa.

A22 claim that the new project is a result of detailed conversations with clubs around Europe on the financial problems facing them. For the past few months A22 and the ESL have focused their attacks on the wealth of the Premier League, its dominance of the transfer market and the effect that has on other European leagues with less lucrative television deals.

There are no details yet on how the original 60 to 80 teams would be constituted or how they would drop out of the proposed competition to make way for new clubs. The original ESL, in April 2021, was pilloried for offering permanent membership to its founding clubs of which six were from the Premier League: the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

The format of the proposed new Super League has been kept a secret by Real, Barcelona and Juventus, but even now there are still questions about how it might work – were it ever given the legal room to operate. A22, as well as its major backers like Real president Florentino Perez, has claimed in the past that there would be greater solidarity payments for clubs who do not participate in European competitions.

Writing in the German newspaper Welt, the chief executive of A22, Bernd Reichart, continued the attack on Uefa by claiming that clubs have no say in the running of its competitions. He said: “It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when it comes to important decisions, they are too often forced to stand idly by from the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations run under their hands. Our talks have also made it clear that it is often impossible for clubs to raise their voices publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to prevent opposition.”

Reichart made other claims about supporting the women’s game, supporting domestic competitions, the health of the players and financial sustainability rules and fan experience. There are pledges to pursue all these issues but no details on how much revenue will be generated to do so or who might run the ESL. In its first iteration in 2021, power was concentrated in the hands of Perez; Andrea Agnelli, the former Juventus chairman; and Manchester United co-owner Joel Glazer.

It is the most powerful clubs outside the rebel three who have helped shape the new format for Uefa's Champions League post 2024 – the so-called “Swiss model” which will have 36 teams in a single division playing ten group stage games instead of the current six. As for the wealth of those competitions, Uefa and the powerful European Club Association which represents clubs across Europe co-own a joint venture that controls all the revenue from the Champion League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

The original European Super League was dealt a major blow before Christmas in its long-running legal case with Uefa in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. The advocate-general Athanasios Rantos’ advice to the court was heavily in favour of the Uefa monopoly.

The advocate-general’s advice is not binding to the ECJ judges but in most cases it is followed. He found that EU competition law was compatible with the restrictions that Uefa and Fifa’s power asserted over football and “proportionate” for achieving Uefa's “legitimate objectives” in line with the EU policy on sport. 

[Zico]

Have they invited us?

[lobbypond]

1 minute ago, Zico said:

Have they invited us?

No. We're too massive.

[MickyD]

6 minutes ago, lobbypond said:

No. We're too massive.

Certainly in the top 20 Premier League clubs.

[Dr. Feelgood]

Well, we will be only the 5th club to have played 5,000 league games come Saturday. After Burnley, Preston, Derby & the Dog-Heads. So that, in my view, is massive.

[MickyD]

And the 12th in terms of most top-flight games with 2803

https://talksport.com/football/159577/revealed-english-teams-ranked-overall-number-top-flight-matches-played-161118217549/

Edited February 9, 2023 by MickyD
Corrected by Cheese

[Cheese]

12 minutes ago, MickyD said:

And the 11th in terms of most top-flight games with 2803

https://talksport.com/football/159577/revealed-english-teams-ranked-overall-number-top-flight-matches-played-161118217549/

12th

[globaldiver]

Fine, let them go. It won’t end well.

[L/H White]

1 hour ago, MickyD said:

Certainly in the top 20 Premier League clubs.

we're just about in the all time premier league table

Edited February 9, 2023 by L/H White

[Duck Egg]

Just another power grab by the biggest sides trying to keep more of the money and to hell with the rest of us. 

The English league is thriving at the moment with crowds in the lower 2 tiers at their highest. Unlike most of the rest of Europe where crowds outside the top division are akin to a Wigan reserve game.  The likes of Utd, Arsenal and laughably Spurs, won't care about that though.

[Dr. Feelgood]

29 minutes ago, Duck Egg said:

The likes of Utd, Arsenal and laughably Spurs, won't care about that though.

Very laughably.

I guess, these days, Newcastle Arabia would have a view about that.

Remember when 'The People's Club', like Isla Bryson, self-declared themselves into the elite.

[Pablo]

These 3 clubs pushing this are desperate for some of this premiership money.

I hope it goes pop very soon and the money dries up.

[Dr. Feelgood]

40 minutes ago, Pablo said:

These 3 clubs pushing this are desperate for some of this premiership money.

I hope it goes pop very soon and the money dries up.

Absolutely agree.

I've predicted the Sky induced money would dry up for 2 decades now but it never has. It will, sooner or later, though.

Personally, though we've seen some terrific players here on the back of it, overall I'd happily reset and get things back to some form of normality. It's now completely insane & no relatability for the average fan.

[green genie]

Bad timing for Premier League to try hardball with City.

[Pablo]

3 hours ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Absolutely agree.

I've predicted the Sky induced money would dry up for 2 decades now but it never has. It will, sooner or later, though.

Personally, though we've seen some terrific players here on the back of it, overall I'd happily reset and get things back to some form of normality. It's now completely insane & no relatability for the average fan.

 

Its a TV Show now, proper soap opera with over dramatic "News" stations making stuff up.

[tomski]

7 hours ago, Pablo said:

These 3 clubs pushing this are desperate for some of this premiership money.

I hope it goes pop very soon and the money dries up.

I think the witch hunt on the massives is linked hugely to this. I joked about a super league push and here it is. Haha

[Lostock Whites]

In terms of absolutely everything, we are probably around the top 15 biggest clubs in the country, which correlates us being 13th/14th in the all time table.

My ranking would be:

1) Man U

2) Liverpool

3) Arsenal

4) Chelsea

5) Aston Villa

6) Everton 

7) Man City

8 Tottenham

9) Newcastle 

10) Sunderland

11) Notts Forest

12) Sheff Weds

13) Leeds

14) Blackburn

15) West Ham

16) Bolton Wanderers

17) Sheff United 

18) Leicester City

19) Derby County

20) West Brom

Edited February 9, 2023 by Lostock Whites

[Jol_BWFC]

10 hours ago, L/H White said:

we're just about in the all time premier league table

Fourth 😉 

[Farnywhite]

We should have closed shopped it when there was only ten teams in the league . The world would of been a better place no Man Utd and Liverpool for a kick off 😀

just seen it’s the 5,000 game this weekend so that makes it have been watching them for just over 2,000 games time flies  

[Dr. Feelgood]

2 hours ago, Farnywhite said:

have been watching them for just over 2,000 games time flies  

What did you reckon to David Jack ?

[bolty58]

All missing the obvious. The evil empire EU is behind this bollocks. The global appeal of the PL and being awash with money as a consequence is driving them nuts.

Bastards.

[jayjayoghani]

Not really Super League related but fascinating attendances from the highest and lowest seasons figures

Hull averaging 36K in Div 3 North one that stands out, amongst others.

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by jayjayoghani

[green genie]

11 hours ago, tomski said:

I think the witch hunt on the massives is linked hugely to this. I joked about a super league push and here it is. Haha

What’s your logic? I said it’s bad timing for Prem as City can say they’ll fuck off and play Barca , Real etc if threatened with expulsion.

[tomski]

1 hour ago, green genie said:

What’s your logic? I said it’s bad timing for Prem as City can say they’ll fuck off and play Barca , Real etc if threatened with expulsion.

I’m convinced there is a biased to Liverpool and the filth and the G whatever they are now. 

I ll never be convinced Man City’s owners have run that club worse than the glazers have rinsing it etc. ffp for me was to protect clubs from being run into the ground. The only danger at Man City is upsetting rival clubs fans.

In terms of my angle I am suggesting rags/Liverpool will argue premier league can’t manage in house and they need a ‘purer’ organisation to look after the elite clubs etc. The shocker, super league talk is back. 

I hope they piss off.

 

[MickyD]

2 minutes ago, tomski said:

I’m convinced there is a biased to Liverpool and the filth and the G whatever they are now. 

I ll never be convinced Man City’s owners have run that club worse than the glazers have rinsing it etc. ffp for me was to protect clubs from being run into the ground. The only danger at Man City is upsetting rival clubs fans.

In terms of my angle I am suggesting rags/Liverpool will argue premier league can’t manage in house and they need a ‘purer’ organisation to look after the elite clubs etc. The shocker, super league talk is back. 

I hope they piss off.

 

My hope is the streaming rights to this Super League are won by a premium channel so Sky Sports are left to concentrate on the ones staying here. It’ll show them the average football fan’s appetite is for football, not necessarily Man U, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and… no, can’t think of the sixth!