In just two days the Super League, dream of 12 of Europe’s richest clubs, lay in ruins after supporters of the six Premier League teams rose up against the owners. But will their anger have a lasting effect on the game?
This time last week, seven long days ago, there was a reassuring, business-as-usual vibe to the English Premier League. Manchester City were disappearing from view at the top of the table; Tottenham Hotspur were underperforming and disgruntled; Newcastle United were for sale. All as it should be.
Then, not quite from nowhere but almost, football’s top table was violently upended. The launch last Sunday of a breakaway Super League for Europe’s biggest clubs was the most audacious power grab in the history of elite football. The new competition promised to offer “excitement and drama never before seen in football” and, to be fair to the 12 initial founding teams, which included Real Madrid, Barcelona, the Milan giants and England’s “Big Six” (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham), they did deliver exactly that.
