The European Super League is Dead.
- Haseena Syazlin
- Apr 25, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: May 6, 2021
The creation of the European Super League (ESL) was first reported by Germany’s largest news website, Der Spiegel. The idea behind the creation of ESL was that Europe’s “biggest” and “top” clubs were to break away from UEFA and compete in their own 20-team competition. The ESL was established on April 18, 2021, by twelve clubs including the England's big six (Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur), three from Spain, and three from Italy. Three more founding clubs were also set to participate to be a part of the 15 founding clubs for the competition. Florentino Pérez, the President of Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (Real Madrid CF), was elected as the organization's first chairman.
The establishment of the ESL caused a major uproar by football junkies, not just the locals but from all over the world. The ESL was also highly criticized by the players and managers from the clubs involved for the nature of the competition being aristocratic and lacking real competition.
The format of the ESL would guarantee the founding clubs a permanent spot in the competition, regardless of their performances which means there will be no danger of them getting relegated, which further proves the point of the ESL being anticompetitive. To make things extra spicy, the big six from England are in fact not that big after all.
The likes of Arsenal getting the chance to play amongst the best clubs in Europe despite failing to qualify for the Champions League since 2016 or the fact that Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) has been barren for 13 years speaks volume about how unfair the ESL could be.
Looking at the Premier League (PL) table this season so far can also show how ridiculous it is for the big six clubs to compete against the best clubs in Europe and to have permanent spots in a European competition as three of the clubs are currently sitting in sixth (Liverpool), seventh (Spurs) and ninth (Arsenal) place respectively.
We have also seen miracles happening whereby the “smaller” clubs destroyed the big six teams in the PL this season. Last season’s almost-relegated-team, Aston Villa humiliated the champions, Liverpool earlier this season with a 7-2 win at Villa Park. Just recently, West Brom, a team that is currently sitting at the bottom of the table at 19th place defeated a big six team, Chelsea by 5-2. Hence, this was where most of the criticisms arise as fans, players and managers questioned as to why these teams have reserved spots and having the opportunity to play among the best clubs in Europe even when they are not in the best form. This season in the PL has specially shown that “smaller” teams are also capable of producing fancy games. The guaranteed spots in the ESL format destroys what makes European football so fascinating.
However, the backlash received has led to the withdrawal of nine from the 12 founding clubs which include all teams from the big six from England. Due to this, after being in works for three years, the ESL had to be suspended, after only three days of its establishment. Football has and always exists for the fans, because of the fans. The collapse of the ESL served as a stark warning and reminder to the football's power brokers that fans has always had the upper-hand and with the influence they have, they should and could never be sidelined again.
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