The European Super League: The biggest betrayal in football history

by | Apr 22, 2021 | Sport

News broke on Monday night about the creation of a new European tournament.

The European Super League was announced to have 15 founding members. Of these, six of them were English Premier League teams.

Many football players, pundits and fans openly displayed their disgust and many saw the decision from these teams as a betrayal to the name of football.

Vayam Lahoti, 18, a Manchester City fan living in Sheffield, said the actions of his club made him feel “utterly embarrassed”.

“It’s just horrible that fans, some of who’ve been supporting their clubs for decades through thick and thin, have to sit and watch their clubs pay no heed to their feelings,” Vayam said.

He added: “The powers possessed by the billionaire club owners have to be kept in check and while there’s not much action that can be taken against these greedy set of businessmen. FIFA and UEFA have to step in and ensure that something like this can never happen again.”

Sheffield FC, who were established in 1857 and are known to be the first ever football club, made a statement on Twitter, describing the decision as going “against everything that football stands for.”

“We regard ourselves as custodians of the beautiful game, and as such we are deeply concerned about the proposed European Super League and what it means for the future of the sport.”

They reassured their fans and members: “We are fully committed to preserving the time-honoured values associated with our beloved game, and we will continue to promote Integrity, Respect and Community within football.”

Oliver Dunkley, 24, a Northampton Town fan said the effects of this league on EFL clubs “would have been absolutely massive.”

He said: “The EFL, especially league one and two, is mainly just about the fans over money, but these clubs still need money to survive. You look at the holes in some of the accounts due to COVID, for example League Two Colchester lost about £2m in 2019/20, the timing of this was horrific.

“We can move on to solving bigger issues and holding organisations accountable, and I also hope that organisations do now realise that they can be held to account.”