New Super League

[PeterParker]

What I hate about all of this is our reputation went to shit.
I don't care the rest, but just that this is horrible for our name.

The clubs need to come out and explain this. Simple.

[johnny crossan]

What I hate about all of this is our reputation went to shit.
I don't care the rest, but just that this is horrible for our name.

The clubs need to come out and explain this. Simple.

Factored into their decision for sure - there is no doubt about the nature of the beast now though - if indeed there ever was.

[PeterParker]

What I hate about all of this is our reputation went to shit.
I don't care the rest, but just that this is horrible for our name.

The clubs need to come out and explain this. Simple.

Factored into their decision for sure - there is no doubt about the nature of the beast now though - if indeed there ever was.

They need a voice that will explain the reason behind this and why they did that because I think players might be targeted on the pitch. In our case, Villa will play a final Wednesday.

[nottsblue]

Don’t really know where to start on this.

On the one hand, can we as fans actually really do anything to stop this should we want to? As RossMCFC posted in 2013, which by the way was a quite outstanding and prophetic post, and John68 and NQDP as well, this has been on the cards and agenda of the elite football businesses for a while now. This hasn’t been something thrown together since the start of the pandemic and rushed through before the announcement of the changes to the CL. This is something that has been worked on and tweaked behind the scenes for some considerable time. And as such, does anyone think the owners of these Founder Clubs are going to change their minds and stance on this? Can’t see it.

We as fans are consumers of the club we support. And there will be an argument football is nothing without fans and while that is certainly normally true, this last year of fans being absent hasn’t unduly diminished the brand of football and the appetite for it. In fact more matches have been televised as a result. And let’s be honest, the TV market in Asia and America dwarfs that of the UK and Europe. As has been previously mooted, this is a proposal based on maximising those revenues.

So, if as a club we took the stance that we would wait and see before throwing our hat into the ring, or even dismissed it out of hand (unlikely scenario that as we have likely be involved in the planning stages for some time and will be aware of what this project entails) then do we run the risk of being left behind? Maybe there was pressure that there are a number of clubs who could/want the remaining places. Plenty of big clubs aren’t named, Bayern, Dortmund, Ajax, Benfica, Porto, Napoli, Celtic to name a few whose fans I’m sure would say they are deserving of a place at Europeans Elite top table. Maybe our hand was forced. Maybe we have planned for this all along. I doubt we will ever truly know. But the fact remains we have signed up for it and we have made our bed, we have to take what the chips allow

What is uncertain is how it will affect the respective domestic leagues across Europe. The extra games will put increased burden on the players and the timing of the fixtures. How will the current International breaks fit in? Will domestic cup competitions be sacrificed by the founding clubs? Where will that leave the integrity of those competitions? Broadcasters won’t pay the same rights they are doing with the best sides not in it. The Premier League as an example are saying they are against the proposals and they are considering banning the 6 teams in question. They might be saying this publicly but privately they know it isn’t ever going to happen. The broadcasting revenue both domestically and from abroad which is in the billions per annum will be massively reduced at the next contract renewal. No broadcaster will pay billions per year to have on Super Sunday a ‘top of the table clash’ between an Everton and Leicester, or a West Ham v Villa. The respective fans of those clubs would obviously watch but the average punter won’t be bothered, ergo lower revenues. So the PL will have to bow to the demands of the ESL. I suspect we may see leagues reduced from 20 to 18 clubs to help ease fixture congestion. We may see the leagues finishing later in the year by a couple of weeks. We shall see. I can certainly see this as a death knell for the League cup. And maybe the ESL members won’t contest the FA cup. Certainly, across Europe the domestic cup competitions aren’t held in as high regard as our FA cup so for a lot of Europe the member ESL clubs not competing in their respective domestic cup competitions won’t be seen as poorly as it will in England. That will be a shame as a lot of fans, myself included, rate the FA cup very highly. But something will have to give.

I assume the ESL games will be on a traditional home and away basis? Are there plans for neutral venues? Could we see in the not too distant future, City for arguments sake building a stadium in the UAE and have ‘home games’ there? Given that match going fans aren’t going to contribute much in the way of extra income, that will come from simple participation, maybe the geographical locations may be a big consideration for TV times and rights. Our own FA cup is now broadcast at tea time because of the global TV audience, not in its traditional 3pm slot. Fans will still be able to see PL games at the Etihad.

And this is just the start. Won’t be long before the next 15 or so European clubs in terms of revenue and standing want in and there will be an ESL2. Possibly with promotion and relegation between them. Assuming the original clubs still retain their broadcasting revenues of course.

In a roundabout way the driving factor behind a lot of this is in no small way down to FFP. The original g14 clubs tried to use it as a tool to stop new clubs coming in and displacing themselves from the gravy train. That failed and ourselves and PSG have established themselves as elite clubs in the CL. And rather poetically the FFP rules that they designed to protect themselves from clubs spending what they wanted and muscling in on them, have come back to bite them on the ass as when they fall from power they themselves can’t spend to get themselves back. So we are seeing a way for them to keep their spending power. We were for years denied a seat at the top table, we kept plugging away and qualifying every year until we wore the bastards down to the point where we couldn’t be denied any longer.

Will fans give up on City and football? Maybe. That is their right and choice. But I rather suspect most won’t. Football is in your blood, as it the team you support. It would take a seismic thing to walk away completely. I get that fans will vote with their feet and not attend matches, but most will surely watch the matches on TV? If not straight away then within a relatively short period of time. And if we assume there will be little difference to the PL, then fans may well boycott ESL fixtures but continue to support the club domestically attending matches as they always have done. The numbers will have been crunched and quite honestly, the clubs will still make more money with the ESL than at present so if attendances go down then so be it. The lost income will be replaced by new fans from the global audience that will pay for this.

Am I a fan of this? In all honesty I am unsure though I am veering to not. I just don’t like the idea of a closed shop where these founder clubs can’t be replaced. But if/when it happens I will still watch the games cheering my side on. I along with many others, don’t care for the CL and the corruption that the organisation has. But it doesn’t stop me cheering City on. After I’ve booed the anthem of course.

Will it be the end of football in this country? No, of course it won’t. It may even benefit the football pyramid as there will be more money to filter down with transfer fees etc. Of course it may not. But football has for a long time had it’s priorities wrong. Clubs in all four divisions are spending far too much on player salaries and have done for a while. The ESL won’t be the thing to destroy the football pyramid, it will be individual clubs greed and stupidity. As an example I know a young lad at Forest who is 19. He is on 500k a year. A lower end championship club. Utterly bonkers. And this won’t be an isolated case by any stretch of the imagination

On the notion the FIFA might ban players from appearing at International tournaments if they play in this. Absolute bullshit. Never ever gonna happen. Legally it would be a minefield because the players themselves won’t have had say in this. And quite honestly given a choice between a huge salary and playing in the ESL against playing for a club not in it but playing for your country for much less income, virtually all players would choose the ESL IMO. And what if a club goes in as one of the 5 clubs on merit? Utterly unworkable

This is very very likely to happen. Money talks and all of that. And if it for whatever reason it doesn’t get off the ground then what have lost? Really? A bit of respect? All will be forgotten in a year or two. And if it does go ahead then in probably less than a decade or even 5 years everyone will be like ‘can’t believe how worried we all were, it has turned out just fine’. People don’t like change as a rule. Other sports made big changes and adapted. Rugby went to a summer sport, imagine it going back to winter now! Cricket evolved with T20 and loads of people said it would be the end of first class cricket and Test cricket. Both are still going strong and all formats of cricket now benefit from each other. Football will adapt to the ESL in due course and probably quicker than we would admit to liking, but football will survive. It the beautiful game after all

[johnny crossan]

What I hate about all of this is our reputation went to shit.
I don't care the rest, but just that this is horrible for our name.

The clubs need to come out and explain this. Simple.

Factored into their decision for sure - there is no doubt about the nature of the beast now though - if indeed there ever was.

They need a voice that will explain the reason behind this and why they did that because I think players might be targeted on the pitch. In our case, Villa will play a final Wednesday.

They say "a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value" but there are no words to disguise the brutal truth that their decision was motivated by greed - pure & simple PP.

[patrickblue]

Talk now of Chavs Us R M being thrown out of Champions league Semis this Friday ???

What have you heard and from where?

Not sure that UEFA would do that as there must be contractual issues with their sponsors & TV rights.

Sure ban all 12/15 teams from the competition next season, but doing it now i don't think they can?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/04/19/manchester-city-chelsea-real-madrid-champions-league-expulsion-super-league

[Mase]

Talk now of Chavs Us R M being thrown out of Champions league Semis this Friday ???

What have you heard and from where?

Not sure that UEFA would do that as there must be contractual issues with their sponsors & TV rights.

Sure ban all 12/15 teams from the competition next season, but doing it now i don't think they can?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/04/19/manchester-city-chelsea-real-madrid-champions-league-expulsion-super-league

Rags get to stay in Uefa Cup though?

[nottsblue]

Talk now of Chavs Us R M being thrown out of Champions league Semis this Friday ???

What have you heard and from where?

Not sure that UEFA would do that as there must be contractual issues with their sponsors & TV rights.

Sure ban all 12/15 teams from the competition next season, but doing it now i don't think they can?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/04/19/manchester-city-chelsea-real-madrid-champions-league-expulsion-super-league

We will see on Friday how to finish the tournament

Well, with one team left in the fucking thing it doesn’t need a MENSA member to work out what can happen if that happened. But can anyone in all honesty see the sponsors and broadcasters be happy to have the thing pulled at the last minute? Thought not so it will be as you were

[nottsblue]

Talk now of Chavs Us R M being thrown out of Champions league Semis this Friday ???

What have you heard and from where?

Not sure that UEFA would do that as there must be contractual issues with their sponsors & TV rights.

Sure ban all 12/15 teams from the competition next season, but doing it now i don't think they can?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/04/19/manchester-city-chelsea-real-madrid-champions-league-expulsion-super-league

Rags get to stay in Uefa Cup though?

Don’t think anyone’s arsed

[PaulieIrish]

One thing for sure, this super league will be good for the window repair business in Liverpool...

[patrickblue]

Talk now of Chavs Us R M being thrown out of Champions league Semis this Friday ???

What have you heard and from where?

Not sure that UEFA would do that as there must be contractual issues with their sponsors & TV rights.

Sure ban all 12/15 teams from the competition next season, but doing it now i don't think they can?

https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/04/19/manchester-city-chelsea-real-madrid-champions-league-expulsion-super-league

Rags get to stay in Uefa Cup though?

Yeah, but they're special.

[PeterParker]

Incredible photo:

[carolina-blue]

Incredible photo:

Is that real mate ?

[PeterParker]

Incredible photo:

Is that real mate ?

Yeah, pal, here is the link: https://www.si.com/soccer/manchestercit ... 6cMCVFiJ6c

[City64]

Fan protests outside the Etihad .
Fan protests outside Old Trafford.
Fan protests outside Anfield .

Three clubs fan bases who hate each other all finding common ground . The fact the owners of these 3 mighty clubs didn’t consult their fans over this ESL is the biggest slap in the face for every single fan in the history of English football .

[Nigels Tackle]

Fan protests outside the Etihad .
Fan protests outside Old Trafford.
Fan protests outside Anfield .

Three clubs fan bases who hate each other all finding common ground . The fact the owners of these 3 mighty clubs didn’t consult their fans over this ESL is the biggest slap in the face for every single fan in the history of English football .

which is why we should fuck them off
they have betrayed us. FUCK THEM. THEY ARE CUNTS.

[Mase]

Fan protests outside the Etihad .
Fan protests outside Old Trafford.
Fan protests outside Anfield .

Three clubs fan bases who hate each other all finding common ground . The fact the owners of these 3 mighty clubs didn’t consult their fans over this ESL is the biggest slap in the face for every single fan in the history of English football .

If rags and scousers are against it then fuck I’m for it. I don’t want to be associated with those sets of cunts regarding anything. Up the ESL!

[sheblue]

Why are spurs in this super league? What the fuck is super about that shower of shit?
What have they done to warrant inclusion?
They have a nice stadium, is that it?
West Ham have a nice stadium.

[City64]

Don’t forget ALL the German clubs told the American (Woodward and Glazer) run ESL to fuck off !
Why didn’t MCFC ???????

[Hazy2]

Fan protests outside the Etihad .
Fan protests outside Old Trafford.
Fan protests outside Anfield .

Three clubs fan bases who hate each other all finding common ground . The fact the owners of these 3 mighty clubs didn’t consult their fans over this ESL is the biggest slap in the face for every single fan in the history of English football .

If rags and scousers are against it then fuck I’m for it. I don’t want to be associated with those sets of cunts regarding anything. Up the ESL!

If this goes to shit, the media will blame ? Sure as shit not the rags or scousers. This will get very messy for us unless we j7mp double Quick.