The European Super League (ESL) collapsed before it had even begun. Nine of the 12 clubs originally involved backed out, including all six English sides. Perhaps the most pivotal reason for the U-turn, at least in this country, was the solidarity shown by fans of all teams up and down the leagues.

Students who are fans of some of the clubs involved in the proposed breakaway have spoken to Redbrick about their feelings surrounding their teams’ involvements. Also chiming in, crucially, to the conversation is a fan of a Premier League side who were never involved in the proposals.

If there is one football club that has felt the threat of commercialisation breathing down their necks for longer than others, it may be Manchester United. With the Glazer family gradually increasing its power at the club since acquiring ownership in 2003, fans have often voiced their fears and anger with what they felt was their club slipping away.

‘The ESL opposes many of my fundamental views’

Following last week’s announcement, those worries have only escalated. Killian Carey, a University of West England student and a staunch United fan, maintains that the club ‘supersedes many loves’ in his life. However, he admits that ‘the ESL opposes many of my fundamental views – equal opportunity being at the forefront of those challenged beliefs,’ Carey adds.

There is no secret of the danger the ESL poses to the football pyramid and, for Carey, it clearly threatens the existence of healthy competition and the chance of progression for all. A common fear is the impact that would be felt lower down the leagues. The most pressing danger is ‘the drain on Premier League trickle-down finance to support the likes of Stockport or Whitehawk,’ which could ‘see a total collapse of the foundations of football in Britain.’

Whilst Carey admitted that he would struggle to detach himself from his beloved United he, like many others, feel that the ‘bond is being extorted by the owners of these clubs,’ and that the ESL would set in motion some serious and difficult moral questions for many fans across the country.

One of the biggest questions surrounding the ESL is whether we should be surprised. Is this just a natural progression of what has been coming for so long? Carey has been ‘personally active in being anti-Glazer and Ed Woodward’ for their shoddy and deceitful ownership, so their true motivations ‘have been black and white for all to see’ for some time.

Perhaps the biggest threat is the success of a ‘non-competitive culture’

To go further, Carey feels that the game is in a ‘constant state of modernisation,’ so there is an air of inevitability about the Super League. With this attempted concept ‘amalgamating the NBA-type system of avoidance of relegation,’ perhaps the biggest threat is the success of a ‘non-competitive culture,’ which is the result of a ‘natural progression of billionaires being allowed every passage into a sport they treat like a business.’

Liverpool Football Club has always been an institution that many in the country would look to for promoting social justice, both on and off the pitch, with the motto You’ll Never Walk Alone often ringing across the stadium and beyond. The announcement of their involvement in the plans shocked the fanbase to the core, perhaps more poignantly than others, as it was so soon after the 32^nd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster.

As a result, there may have been damage done that may never be repaired by the announcements which clearly disregarded the fans. Corrie Miller, a student in Birmingham, is one of those Liverpool supporters who felt the scale of the plans in relation to his club, citing Bill Shankly, whose words and success as Liverpool manager through the 1960s and 1970s implemented the ‘socialist roots’ which so many fans seek to stand by today.

If, down the line, there were more plans for the ESL, Miller fears that the ‘tribalism of the game’ would disappear, including the legendary ‘Champions League nights at Anfield.’ These occasions have shown what can happen in the heat of competition filled where teams have something to lose.

Miller fears that the ‘tribalism of the game’ would disappear

Miller seeks to view the response to the plans as a positive moment, and perhaps the announcements could be seen as one of the best things to happen as the ‘illusion of power for those at the top and helplessness of the fans has been shattered.’

In Jurgen Klopp, many Liverpool fans feel the potential for a Shankly-style legacy and with Klopp being so openly against the plans for a number of years, there was fear that this could be snatched away by owner John Henry, who has since posted a grovelling apology video.

For fans of relegation-battling Brighton, the proposed Super League has only added to the feelings of angst. Seagulls fan Alfie Baeza-Collis, who studies at the University of Liverpool, fears that the uncertainty that makes football special, the uncertainty that saw miracles such as Leicester’s Premier League title, could be lost, affecting the game ‘on an emotional level.’

Baeza-Collis is also fearful for the entirety of the football pyramid, as the ESL ‘would be extremely damaging, both economically and socially,’ as ‘critical money for grassroots and lower leagues would be lost,’ which would threaten the legacy of English football.

‘Critical money for grassroots and lower leagues would be lost’

Clubs involved in the Super League plans should be punished, according to Baeza-Collis, either financially or in relation to their league standing. He acknowledged that points deductions may be unfair on both the players and manager but cites that this was seemingly not an issue when ‘Portsmouth got points taken off them due to poor board decisions,’ further reinforcing the argument around the elitism which essentially fuels this entire proposed project.

In relation to financial punishment, it is clear that it would have to be a ‘sufficient’ enough amount to hurt the clubs, but this could lead to further issues in terms of the trickle-down effect across the league and beyond. Ultimately, as a fan of a club outside the big six, Baeza-Collis feels that ‘ideally, each big six team would be fined, and this money would go to grassroots football, but we all know that won’t happen.’

There was something quite fitting about the Super League announcement, creeping up on us all in the dead of night that Sunday, with billionaire owners thinking they could pull the rug from beneath the fans and fill their pockets. Days later, protests outside grounds such as Anfield and Stamford Bridge were arguably the catalysts for high-level resignations and mass panic amongst the clubs.

This now can be the start of a movement against the poison that is franchise football and turning fans into customers, rather than the fans resting on the laurels of an ultimately small victory whilst the rich at the top plot their next destructive move. It is clear that no matter how much money you have, the power of people united is an undying and irresistible force that cannot be ignored and continues to be the foundation of everything so great about football in this country.

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