Top European Soccer Teams Agree to Join Breakaway League

[Francis Albert]

6 minutes ago, shaun.lawson said:

Marvellous article.

 

Food for thought for those on this very website who choose this world of greed, avarice, ruthlessness and not giving a **** about anyone other than themselves on a daily basis - then decry it when football does the same thing.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/apr/19/power-grab-in-a-pandemic-european-super-league-absence-of-fans-tv-income

Much as I detest the super league idea that article is a perfect illustration of the decline of the Guardian into a propagandist organ rather than a serious newspaper. Speaking as a 50 year long Guardian reader still loyally clinging on.

[1971fozzy]

12 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

In China? In Japan? Anywhere in Asia? In Erope outside  Scotland and Ireland? Huge untapped potential? Really?

just my opinion. As much as I detest them both I think they’d be able to compete commercially 

Edited April 19, 2021 by 1971fozzy

[Bongo 1874]

1 minute ago, 1971fozzy said:

just my opinion. As much as I detest them both I think they’d be able to compete commercially 

They would 👍. 

[JimmyCant]

10 hours ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Seriously, you really believe that. It's restraint of trade and would be thrown out of court in a second. 

Football is an industry and needs to be dragged into line. 

 

Well by the same token it’s a restraint of trade banning them from leagues and it’s a restraint of human rights banning players appearing for their country

[Francis Albert]

1 minute ago, 1971fozzy said:

just my opinion. As much as I detest them both I think they’d be able to 

Fair enough. Just think you may have been in Scotland too long if you think the OF have significant world wide appeal.

[1971fozzy]

3 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Fair enough. Just think you may have been in Scotland too long if you think the OF have significant world wide appeal.

Probably 👍🤣

[jambostuart]

3 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Fair enough. Just think you may have been in Scotland too long if you think the OF have significant world wide appeal.

 

We already have half of Scotland supporting the OF. I've said before as much as I hate them both, the OF joining EPL or Euro Leagues or leaving the Scottish leagues could be a significant blow to the interest in Scottish football.

 

How many football fans or kids growing up now watching football are genuinely going to have an interest in Hearts vs Hibs as the biggest game on the Scottish calendar when Rangers and Celtic are playing Juventus, Man City etc every week in Glasgow

 

We struggle to market our game against kiddy on plastic football as it is. Rangers and Celtic joining up would be the final straw I think. 

[Pasquale for King]

39 minutes ago, jamboinglasgow said:

Florentino Perez has spoken about why the league must happen

 

 

 

 

 

Where do you start with all that? He wants us to feel sorry for the super rich Real Madrid needing more money because times are hard. The same Real Madrid currently doing a half Billion Euro redevelopment of their stadium. The same Real Marid who are looking to make a £100m plus bid for Haarland in the summer. 

Spot on 

[dobmisterdobster]

10 minutes ago, jambostuart said:

 

We already have half of Scotland supporting the OF. I've said before as much as I hate them both, the OF joining EPL or Euro Leagues or leaving the Scottish leagues could be a significant blow to the interest in Scottish football.

 

How many football fans or kids growing up now watching football are genuinely going to have an interest in Hearts vs Hibs as the biggest game on the Scottish calendar when Rangers and Celtic are playing Juventus, Man City etc every week in Glasgow

 

We struggle to market our game against kiddy on plastic football as it is. Rangers and Celtic joining up would be the final straw I think. 

 

I agree with this but that doesn't mean they are prime candidates to join this new tournament ahead of dozens of other European teams.

[JackLadd]

To get an invite confers franchise status so you could theoretically be relegated to the Championship or worse (like a Sunderland) and be playing in a Euro super league forever. Ludicrous. 

[jambostuart]

7 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

I agree with this but that doesn't mean they are prime candidates to join this new tournament ahead of dozens of other European teams.

If French and German teams all turn down the invitation they would be. Which 8 teams in Europe outside of Germany and France would you pick ahead of them? Maybe Ajax and a couple Dutch teams, but that's about all

 

EDIT: A couple of Portugese teams too maybe....

Edited April 19, 2021 by jambostuart

[dobmisterdobster]

4 minutes ago, jambostuart said:

If French and German teams all turn down the invitation they would be. Which 8 teams in Europe outside of Germany and France would you pick ahead of them? Maybe Ajax and a couple Dutch teams, but that's about all

 

Teams from Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Russia etc.

[jambostuart]

1 minute ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

Teams from Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Russia etc.

 

Fair enough, I think Russian teams might be a no go for the near future myself...

 

If they want an eventual league of 20 for this Super League and we discount France and Germany, I think Rangers and Celtic would be in with a realistic shout of being invited myself

[TNCASTLE]

On 19/04/2021 at 01:22, Locky said:

There's not even any French or German teams in this new Super League thing, so can't imagine Celtic or Ranger are anywhere near their thoughts.

 

I seriously hope nobody pays much attention to this crap. It's basically going to be a glorified exhibition tournament. Loads of shite.

Germans are 51% owned by fans, this was designed to stop shite like this.

The owners of the clubs listed involved are business men and they want stable business. I read one saying he doesn’t know if he budgets for £70M or £170M next season. Stable turnover equates to stable value of a business.

selling a business is usually x the average turnover, the more stable the bigger the x. I personally reckon it won’t happen because the mass fans of the biggest (Man U and L’pool) will revolt. Also some entrants are not big enough eg Spurs and A Madrid. The former has ludicrous debt (£600M I think. If it does happen the doors open to cross-border and the Turd ends and perhaps others will play in England to prop up and add interest to their deflated league.
 

[McGlynn The Money]

1 hour ago, jamboinglasgow said:

Florentino Perez has spoken about why the league must happen

 

 

 

 

 

Where do you start with all that? He wants us to feel sorry for the super rich Real Madrid needing more money because times are hard. The same Real Madrid currently doing a half Billion Euro redevelopment of their stadium. The same Real Marid who are looking to make a £100m plus bid for Haarland in the summer. 

 

Where is he asking for sympathy? He's just explaining the logic behind it. Hearts spoke a lot about the impact of the pandemic but still went out and signed players.

 

Part of the driver for this is huge clubs like Madrid and Barça winning leagues and Champions Leagues but seeing the likes of Bournemouth have a higher income from TV money just because of the Prem's deal with Sky. Speaking of Barça, at least Perez has put his head above the parapet whereas Barcelona and Atletico are deep into this new set up too but were a bit more reticent about going public.

 

Not that I'm in favour of this Super League I must say. It sounds utter pish.

[JackLadd]

15 minutes ago, jambostuart said:

 

Fair enough, I think Russian teams might be a no go for the near future myself...

 

If they want an eventual league of 20 for this Super League and we discount France and Germany, I think Rangers and Celtic would be in with a realistic shout of being invited myself

 

 

Two piss poor squads, Celtic currently #99 on transfermarkt beneath a number of English Championship outfits and newco even lower. Just because they can fill a stadium is not a selling point, they also bring baggage especially newco. You think Manchester city council wants newco fans going their again twice a year? They are currently banned from the city centre btw. 

Edited April 19, 2021 by JackLadd

[BigAlim]

Would imagine a large number of the teams invited to be cannon fodder each year will mainly be whats left of the big leagues tbh, the likes of Leicester and Sevilla etc.

[trotter]

45 minutes ago, jambostuart said:

 

We already have half of Scotland supporting the OF. I've said before as much as I hate them both, the OF joining EPL or Euro Leagues or leaving the Scottish leagues could be a significant blow to the interest in Scottish football.

 

How many football fans or kids growing up now watching football are genuinely going to have an interest in Hearts vs Hibs as the biggest game on the Scottish calendar when Rangers and Celtic are playing Juventus, Man City etc every week in Glasgow

 

We struggle to market our game against kiddy on plastic football as it is. Rangers and Celtic joining up would be the final straw I think. 

What interest to Scottish football? Outside of Scotland it is pretty much a no-mark irrelevance. The loss of the OF could generate renewed interest in a genuinely competitive league. I promise you, no-one is sitting in Asia waiting for the SPL highlights on a Saturday night. The very thought is laughable. 

[TNCASTLE]

3 minutes ago, JackLadd said:

 

 

Two piss poor squads, Celtic currently #99 on transfermarkt beneath a number of English Championship outfits and newco even lower. Just because they can fill a stadium is not a selling point, they also bring baggage especially newco. You think Manchester city council wants newco fans going their again twice a year? They are currently banned from the city centre btw. 

I agree with the comment that with 20 teams there is half a chance a Turd end will get an invite, but not both and probably the left end of the same turd.

[jambostuart]

6 minutes ago, trotter said:

What interest to Scottish football? Outside of Scotland it is pretty much a no-mark irrelevance. The loss of the OF could generate renewed interest in a genuinely competitive league. I promise you, no-one is sitting in Asia waiting for the SPL highlights on a Saturday night. The very thought is laughable. 

I meant within Scotland and future attendances at matches. Scottish football needs fans in stadiums, and that will be in serious jeopardy if Rangers and Celtic leave the Scottish league. Younger fans will not want to see Hearts playing in a diddy league, when Rangers are playing whoever is on the next version of Fifa over in Glasgow, and I'd bet there would be a significant drop in attendances

[TNCASTLE]

4 minutes ago, trotter said:

What interest to Scottish football? Outside of Scotland it is pretty much a no-mark irrelevance. The loss of the OF could generate renewed interest in a genuinely competitive league. I promise you, no-one is sitting in Asia waiting for the SPL highlights on a Saturday night. The very thought is laughable. 

You might be surprised as SPL is on Fox in Australia, I have even seen a few Hearts games from the Championship even.  A Telco bought English and its dear, too dear except English living here.

Fox is active in Asia. Probably Singaporeans and Koreans watch SPL sometimes.

Fox also have La Ligament and Bundesliga live as well as Brazilian and Argentinian leagues.

 

 

[jamborich]

Haven't read all thread so bit naive here but if I'm reading this right players who participate wont be able to play in world cup..has to be a non starter 

[DesertDawg]

1 hour ago, jamborich said:

Haven't read all thread so bit naive here but if I'm reading this right players who participate wont be able to play in world cup..has to be a non starter 

 

We're a long way from that right now despite the statements from UEFA and elsewhere.  All kinds of legal implications in employment and contract law in multiple countries, besides, you really think that England, Italy and Spain are going to participate in a World Cup if their best players can't play?  

[Ulysses]

 

[Kiwidoug]

1 hour ago, jambostuart said:

I meant within Scotland and future attendances at matches. Scottish football needs fans in stadiums, and that will be in serious jeopardy if Rangers and Celtic leave the Scottish league. Younger fans will not want to see Hearts playing in a diddy league, when Rangers are playing whoever is on the next version of Fifa over in Glasgow, and I'd bet there would be a significant drop in attendances

Doesn't explain why 27,000 saw us playing at Motherwell on a Wednesday night with thousands locked out.  That was in the unfashionable Texaco Cup.  Thing is, the OF weren't in the Texaco Cup.

 

Taking them out of Scotland would be a massive boost to every other club.  Sectarianism would diminish dramatically.

[Tommy Brown]

4 hours ago, jambostuart said:

 

We already have half of Scotland supporting the OF. I've said before as much as I hate them both, the OF joining EPL or Euro Leagues or leaving the Scottish leagues could be a significant blow to the interest in Scottish football.

 

How many football fans or kids growing up now watching football are genuinely going to have an interest in Hearts vs Hibs as the biggest game on the Scottish calendar when Rangers and Celtic are playing Juventus, Man City etc every week in Glasgow

 

We struggle to market our game against kiddy on plastic football as it is. Rangers and Celtic joining up would be the final straw I think. 

They have my full consent, OF and the rest.

They will be all out of business  within 5 years. 

When they all overspend year on year it will eventually crash completely. No Uefa and EPL help this time. 

Unfortunately, Scotland will be a haven for our cancerous pair. I want them gone with a no return ticket.

[ri Alban]

13 hours ago, Boab said:

Sorry, I disagree. 
The fact that Scotland are currently involved in qualification to a tournament which will take place halfway through a normal fn season and was only awarded with brown envelopes everywhere, tells me international football is goosed also. 
World Cup is now a farce and I hope we don’t qualify for this upcoming circus !

Qatar is the only country to give out envelopes. South Africa, The USA, Japn/Korea and Brazil.

Come to think of it, I wonder how many envelopes Boris and Seb gave out to land the Olympics.

 

The whole sports world is corrupt. 

[The Real Maroonblood]

46 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Qatar is the only country to give out envelopes. South Africa, The USA, Japn/Korea and Brazil.

Come to think of it, I wonder how many envelopes Boris and Seb gave out to land the Olympics.

 

The whole sports world is corrupt. 

Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.

We’ll just have another corrupt body to add to the others.

[ri Alban]

16 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

Your last sentence sums it up perfectly.

We’ll just have another corrupt body to add to the others.

Exactly. But seeing Boris giving it large is the best of the lot. But hey, the British aren't corrupt, they're just lobbyists who love cronyism. 

 

As for banning the players from International teams. The players will greet into the pit of millions when that happens. Good luck with that, when England puts a team full of also rans on the park at a world Cup against a not so bothered Brazil full strength 11. Who'll sponsor these tournaments)?  Pedigree chum. Well it does produce a lot of dugshite. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by ri Alban

[The Real Maroonblood]

6 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Exactly. But seeing Boris giving it large is the best of the lot. But hey, the British aren't corrupt, they're just lobbyists who love cronyism. 

 

As for banning the players from International teams. The players will greet into the pit of millions when that happens. Good luck with that, when England puts a team full of also rans on the park at a world Cup against a not so bothered Brazil full strength 11. Who'll sponsor these tournaments)?  Pedigree chum. Well it does produce a lot of dugshite. 

It was laughable Johnson getting his twopence worth in.

[Boris]

6 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

Much as I detest the super league idea that article is a perfect illustration of the decline of the Guardian into a propagandist organ rather than a serious newspaper. Speaking as a 50 year long Guardian reader still loyally clinging on.

Opinion piece gives an opinion shocker.

[James1874f]

6 hours ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

I agree with this but that doesn't mean they are prime candidates to join this new tournament ahead of dozens of other European teams.

No chance the OF would be founder members of this Super League but if the rest of the  places are invitation only then if they wanted to play in it eventually 1 or both would be chosen.

 

On another note either way this is bad news for Scottish Football because if the Champions League runs along side this all it does is open up more spaces and the OF are almost Certainly going to make the groups every year.

 

I think the Super League is a horrific idea but I am not surprised said years ago the Champions League and the likes of the EPL wasn’t sustainable. It’s hilarious English football fans saying football is for the fans that League sold out years ago. UEFA and the plastic champions league riches have created a monster they can’t now control but hey least a lot of people got rich doing so.

[XB52]

10 hours ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Are people seriously thinking we will be leaving Scottish football, just because 12 billionaire clubs want to set up a league. 

Why will we be impacted? 

That's why I just don't get why it's a big deal on here. I just can't see any way it will impact our club. I can see why the poor wee clubs like Leeds, Newcastle, everton etc are up in arms and I totally get why ordinary fans down there hate the idea but none of them have complained as the billions poured into their league.

[ri Alban]

Stopping business expansion isn't very Tory is it Boris. These teams will end up leaving their leagues for good if people are careful. As for it's a fans game and players won't join.

 

 

 

What’s wrong with this idea? What's this playing the same teams year on year pish they are talking about? 

 

The EPL would stop promotion in a heartbeat if they could, anaw. 

 

 

 

Boris

[XB52]

10 hours ago, sadj said:

Dundee Utd reached a European Cup Semi , Roma paid the ref off or theyd prob have been in the final. 
 

Then they beat Barcelona in the UEFA Cup quarter final (1-0(h) , 2-1(a)) despite inbetween needing a penalty in 56mins of injury time to draw with Forfar in the Scottish Cup. They then despatched Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Semi them came up short , losing the final to Gothenburg. 86/87 i think that was - year we lost out on away goals to Dukla Prague.

I was at both the Barcelona and Borussia games. Fantastic football

[ri Alban]

1 minute ago, XB52 said:

That's why I just don't get why it's a big deal on here. I just can't see any way it will impact our club. I can see why the poor wee clubs like Leeds, Newcastle, everton etc are up in arms and I totally get why ordinary fans down there hate the idea but none of them have complained as the billions poured into their league.

It's just a discussion. People using examples based on what we know, isn't unusual or wrong. Otherwise let's close the thread. 

 

Poor wee Leeds and Everton. Leeds went tits up because they thought they could be the best in Europe. Maybe best they left it to the actual best. 

[kingantti1874]

6 hours ago, McGlynn The Money said:

 

Where is he asking for sympathy? He's just explaining the logic behind it. Hearts spoke a lot about the impact of the pandemic but still went out and signed players.

 

Part of the driver for this is huge clubs like Madrid and Barça winning leagues and Champions Leagues but seeing the likes of Bournemouth have a higher income from TV money just because of the Prem's deal with Sky. Speaking of Barça, at least Perez has put his head above the parapet whereas Barcelona and Atletico are deep into this new set up too but were a bit more reticent about going public.

 

Not that I'm in favour of this Super League I must say. It sounds utter pish.

sky have a cheek to complain, they started this by funding the EPL to the detriment of all other leagues.

 

if you’d told me in 1989 that hearts wouldn’t be able to compete with teams like Swansea and Bournemouth I wouldn’t have believed it.

 

this is the next logical step, instead of protecting the wealth for a few select leagues, it moves onto a few select clubs. I’ve been saying for years that something like this was inevitable. And it won’t stop with these clubs

[Kiwidoug]

If Celtic and Rangets were in it, I'd give this new league my 100% blessing.

[hans]

Pity they did,nt get all upset and horrified when champions league was brought in

and smaller countries champions were booted out in favour of big clubs from

england, italy germany etc. 

[jack D and coke]

6 hours ago, TNCASTLE said:

I agree with the comment that with 20 teams there is half a chance a Turd end will get an invite, but not both and probably the left end of the same turd.

How funny would it be if only one of them got invited. Id genuinely piss myself. 
Rangers and Celtic don’t have mass appeal outside of Scotland either they’ve looked to tap into it before and it ain’t there. Celtic possibly have bigger appeal due to the Irish thing but Rangers only have overseas bigots that care a toss. 
I have to say I’m struggling to get overly arsed about this set up also. 
This sort of thing has been coming if we’re honest I’m not sure what the big surprise is. Gary Neville raging for the whole night was hilarious what a little dickhead he is. Carragher  another erse of a man who took the subscription money and are now trying to play some dignity card that football has “finally” lost its soul. 
These clubs disappeared up their own farters about 20 years ago. £100m transfer fees for pish like Harry Maguire, £250k a week salaries  If it brings them all to their knees then it’s probably going to be a great thing. 
Barca and Madrid have been cheating for years running up enormous debts but cleaning up and crushing competition. 
**** them all let’s hope they all actually collapse under this nonsense. 
 

[ri Alban]

3 minutes ago, Kiwidoug said:

If Celtic and Rangets were in it, I'd give this new league my 100% blessing.

There's the thing kiwi. Neville, Shearer, Keane, and now Boris. Where was the outrage when England were handed Scotland's, Wales' and Northern Ireland's automatic Champions League position. But, because these big six teams now want to do the same to their Diddy league teams it's  time.

 

 

Champions League without champions playing in it was the start of the end. Football has cannibalised itself. Thank feck Scottish football went tits up long ago and now is in a position of pay as you go itself. (Pandemic aside) 

[Nookie Bear]

6 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

How funny would it be if only one of them got invited. Id genuinely piss myself. 
Rangers and Celtic don’t have mass appeal outside of Scotland either they’ve looked to tap into it before and it ain’t there. Celtic possibly have bigger appeal due to the Irish thing but Rangers only have overseas bigots that care a toss. 
I have to say I’m struggling to get overly arsed about this set up also. 
This sort of thing has been coming if we’re honest I’m not sure what the big surprise is. Gary Neville raging for the whole night was hilarious what a little dickhead he is. Carragher  another erse of a man who took the subscription money and are now trying to play some dignity card that football has “finally” lost its soul. 
These clubs disappeared up their own farters about 20 years ago. £100m transfer fees for pish like Harry Maguire, £250k a week salaries  If it brings them all to their knees then it’s probably going to be a great thing. 
Barca and Madrid have been cheating for years running up enormous debts but cleaning up and crushing competition. 
**** them all let’s hope they all actually collapse under this nonsense. 
 

Have to say I’m on this page, and also hope it will recalibrate the teams left behind to start offering realistic wages and transfers. 

[Nookie Bear]

And UEFA have got a cheek as well because they were moving towards this set up under their own steam. 
 

I dream that this leads to a complete rethink in the way the game operates but I suspect a compromise will somehow be concocted that kicks this into the long grass for a few years. 

[ri Alban]

Is there a reason the European Cup can't be successful without these clubs. I'm sure other European clubs would welcome the new set up where say Ajax? and Rangers? go straight in every year without playing fellow champs of European nations in the 3 qualifying round. 

 

Maybe the CL winner could play the ESL winner at the end of May each season. 

A bit like the BDO v PDC, but hey, people will watch anything, these days. 

[Homme]

Every team has untapped potential, all it takes is investment and some success - look at City, Chelsea (Spurs ). Look at Atleti or Dortmund - hipster teams - who have amassed even more fans over their big supports just by playing well and reaching business ends of euro tournaments.

 

To say the Glasgow teams don't comes across as pretty bitter tbh. They are / were bigger clubs than 3 or 4 of the six English teams involved and all it takes is something like this to tap into new markets. 

[dobmisterdobster]

12 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

Barca and Madrid have been cheating for years running up enormous debts but cleaning up and crushing competition.

 

Aided and abetted by the Spanish government with no consequences.

Florentino Perez conducts himself like an outright mercenary. Disgraceful.

[jack D and coke]

4 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

Aided and abetted by the Spanish government with no consequences.

Florentino Perez conducts himself like an outright mercenary. Disgraceful.

Exactly. Cheating *******s. 

[Locky]

7 hours ago, TNCASTLE said:

Germans are 51% owned by fans, this was designed to stop shite like this.

The owners of the clubs listed involved are business men and they want stable business. I read one saying he doesn’t know if he budgets for £70M or £170M next season. Stable turnover equates to stable value of a business.

selling a business is usually x the average turnover, the more stable the bigger the x. I personally reckon it won’t happen because the mass fans of the biggest (Man U and L’pool) will revolt. Also some entrants are not big enough eg Spurs and A Madrid. The former has ludicrous debt (£600M I think. If it does happen the doors open to cross-border and the Turd ends and perhaps others will play in England to prop up and add interest to their deflated league.
 

I'm particularly surprised that RB Leipzig released a statement saying they wouldn't be interested. They're the only club in Germany who don't really follow the 50+1 model. Their very existence sort of shites on what the German fans hold dear.

[Des Lynam]

If they don’t push this through then the compromise might be allowing the big clubs to generate their own tv money. 

 

 

[Haken]

19 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Is there a reason the European Cup can't be successful without these clubs. I'm sure other European clubs would welcome the new set up where say Ajax? and Rangers? go straight in every year without playing fellow champs of European nations in the 3 qualifying round. 

 

Maybe the CL winner could play the ESL winner at the end of May each season. 

A bit like the BDO v PDC, but hey, people will watch anything, these days. 

I imagine that it's a question of marketability, with this whole stramash being a battle for market share.  I suspect the fear here is that the Asian interest will  nod towards the ESL and away from the CL.  But I'm quite cynical.