Top European Soccer Teams Agree to Join Breakaway League

[ri Alban]

31 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. 
 

Tottenham owes a fortune after building their new stadium for the NFL. At least Arsenal cut their cloth according after they built their stadium, but look at the damage it has done to the team. They cannot compete anymore, so this guarantee of ESL football is a no brainer and every single team in Europe would jump at the chance. I agree with you on Neville and Carragher, but who wouldn't take sky's money to talk about football if offered. If Boyd can get away with his nervous Nerys routine, we can all get away with it.

 

 

I've now changed my mind and I'm now actually looking forward to the new league. Bring it on. 

[The Ultimate Worrier]

14 minutes ago, dobmisterdobster said:

 

Aided and abetted by the Spanish government with no consequences.

Florentino Perez conducts himself like an outright mercenary. Disgraceful.

 

8 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

Exactly. Cheating *******s. 

 

 

I don't think the government help was as clear cut as people think. It seemed to mainly be peddled by English and German clubs who were sick of losing to Spanish teams.

 

There the famous Madrid training ground deal with the local government which was dodgy/above board according to different people and investigations. Then of course Franco clearing Barcelona's debts years ago to stop them going bust, yet he is famous for supposedly helping Real Madrid.

 

In recent years there was the so called "Beckham law" which was intended to help companies in any sector bring top talent to Spain with the attraction of lower taxes. It was closed down by the government years ago though and the clubs had to repay the money.

[Joey J J Jr Shabadoo]

1 hour 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.

When the English whine about it being the end of football, they mean it's the end of English football. Everywhere else it will be fine, just the pool of Euro opponents will decrease by 12 or so.

[kila]

7 minutes ago, Des Lynam said:

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

Does sound unsustainable how ****ed these so called big clubs are financially. It can’t last surely? Though been saying that for years but this is more like a gasp for air from them. 

[Beni]

33 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. 
 

 

Spot on.

The gravy train has been trundling in this direction for years.

The Champions League was a novelty to start with and this would be the same, but like all leagues there will be plenty of dead rubber games, and with no relegation that might be sooner than imagined. I doubt the world will hold its breath when Tottenham are playing Athletico Madrid to see who is 18th best team in Europe.

[ri Alban]

2 minutes ago, Haken said:

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.

The USA seems to be the target for this. Doomed to failure unless football is now a man's sport over there. 

Baseball

Hockey 

NFL

College football

 

How will 'Soccer compete' will there be more breaks thro the game. Say 3 time outs per team per half, so they can attract advertising from coca cola, budwieser etc... etc...? 

[ri Alban]

5 minutes ago, The Ultimate Worrier said:

 

 

 

I don't think the government help was as clear cut as people think. It seemed to mainly be peddled by English and German clubs who were sick of losing to Spanish teams.

 

There the famous Madrid training ground deal with the local government which was dodgy/above board according to different people and investigations. Then of course Franco clearing Barcelona's debts years ago to stop them going bust, yet he is famous for supposedly helping Real Madrid.

 

In recent years there was the so called "Beckham law" which was intended to help companies in any sector bring top talent to Spain with the attraction of lower taxes. It was closed down by the government years ago though and the clubs had to repay the money.

They weren't called Real Madrid for feck all. The King's  team and he made sure the got what they wanted. 

 

 

I don't see Spain finding the Catalan National team of Barcelona. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by ri Alban

[DETTY29]

Surely this excuse that budgeting will be more stable for next 20 years is a smokescreen unless income from all tv, advertising and league placing is shared equally and it is just that, an excuse?

Edited April 20, 2021 by DETTY29

[Sooperstar]

At least Perez has been honest about it. We're skint, we need the money and it is all about giving markets in the Far East etc what they want. The thoughts of fans and pundits in Europe don't matter to them. It's disgusting, but those are the reasons I think this will happen. For some of these clubs it has to.

[milky_26]

9 hours 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. 

bad financial situation? then dont spend 100s of millions on players or pay them 100s of thousands per week

[Deevers]

Let them go and do this. Ban them from their national leagues. Hopefully fans will see this for what it is. - foreign owners fleecing the game for every penny they can to line their own pockets. Zero interest in the sport, zero interest in the fans, zero interest in the clubs - only interested in the big bucks they think this will make for them. 

[ri Alban]

I take players will now play for the average weekly wage in the UK. The EPL will now be broadcast on cooncil telly for free and players will not be sold for more the £50,000. 👍 Oh and the fans will be delighted when they buy the new Messi from the local Sunday league supermarket 11. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by ri Alban

[ri Alban]

Just for the record, these teams aren't leaving their leagues unless said leagues throw them out. 

[Mysterion]

36 minutes ago, kila said:

Does sound unsustainable how ****ed these so called big clubs are financially. It can’t last surely? Though been saying that for years but this is more like a gasp for air from them. 

 

ESL whilst disgusting could be an abject failure - fans don't want it, they may not bother subscribing to watch and the rights are devalued. ESL clubs then don't have quite the amount of money they thought they'd get.

 

EPL will be devalued for TV rights - this causes major financial issues for the top flight with a knock on to Championship. 

 

I'm starting to see a positive.

[Mysterion]

6 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Just for the record, these teams aren't leaving their leagues unless said leagues throw them out. 

 

100% - i don't think any of those leagues can afford to expel teams. The financial meltdown through the devaluation of TV rights would cause many clubs to meltdown. 

 

Would be good though it they did.

[ri Alban]

1 minute ago, Mysterion said:

 

ESL whilst disgusting could be an abject failure - fans don't want it, they may not bother subscribing to watch and the rights are devalued. ESL clubs then don't have quite the amount of money they thought they'd get.

 

EPL will be devalued for TV rights - this causes major financial issues for the top flight with a knock on to Championship. 

 

I'm starting to see a positive.

Fans don't want it. Sure they don't. And wee groups of doughnuts don't speak for everyone. The usual suspects who think what they say counts for everyone else. Just like this place. 

[Jeff]

9 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Just for the record, these teams aren't leaving their leagues unless said leagues throw them out. 

 

Might as well leave though... They're just gonna play their reserves to avoid fatigue and injuries

[Under the floodlight]

Will be interesting to see who the First manager is who goes to one of the twelve.

[Hashimoto]

IMO this fanciful notion of a super league died the moment that power houses like Bayern Munich and PSG told them "Not interested" 
Looks like any immediate future recruitment will have to come from England, Spain and Italy.
The rest of Europe would appear to have given this a huge thumbs down!

[Peakybunnet]

16 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Just for the record, these teams aren't leaving their leagues unless said leagues throw them out. 

 

They would be a sell chucking them out. The whole league would lose their sporting integrity.

 

Guaranteed ESL spots would the super 6 in England put all their efforts into the EPL. Would they play second strings to give first team experience.

 

Could the clubs finishing 7,8,9 and 10 qualify for the champions League if the Super Six finish in the top six places. One week you could be avoiding relegation and then 2 or 3 victories later fighting for a Champions League or Europa cup place. 

[Hagar the Horrible]

I Think people people seriously under estimate how big the OF are worlwide if they went to the EPL, every paddy ex pat and plastic paddy would be guilt tripped into following them, and their away support would draw in migrated fans from all over the UK,  Now scale that up in the ESL.  People support those clubs world wide, compared to buying into a brand.  Man Utd are are Brand created by SAF,  Chelsea in the 80's were an average club with a loyal band of supporters who have been out priced by rich west-enders and a rich Russians' toy

 

Kids around the world wear Man Utd, Real and Barca tops because it looks cool but even the asian adult market place could tell you the result of a game 3 weeks ago.  There is a diference between branding and supporting, its in the soul..take note FSG!

 

I followed the NFL the last 2 years, I dont realy have a team, and none I would lose any sleep over, Yet I am still raging over the Brora and QoS games....Note the diference.  I once had to google an arguement (well banter) to an american in Florida because he though I was a Dodgers fan, After I pondered as to why he though that, I realised I had a baseball cap with LA on it and in small print on the back it said Dodgers,  I just needed a hat.  I still cannot tell you a players name let alone the stadium they play in.

 

The OF in the ESL or EPL would become a frankenstien monster none could control

 

The Asian market is still un-tapped and the Pieman was right when he tried to play a league game in Australia to attract the Japanesse market.  The NFL play in London, and most teams only have 8 home games.  We market our game on the USP of 4 OF games,  yet if they were to big up just by adding Hearts and Hibs to that, they have 24 games to sell.

 

I say let this go ahead and hope it fails, and if they come back with their tails between their legs, then they start at the bottom and not be allowed to go to the £billions they are in debt.

[Boab]

3 hours 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. 

I never said they were the only ones, football has been corrupt for a long time. Introduce more money and big business into it and the corruption levels go up. 
I ain’t gonna moralise though, our game stinks to high heaven as well. 
 

[benny]

The old firm i would imagine have no support in Africa and the Far East.

This is where the EPL is building up its support.

Huge money to be made over there.

[Hagar the Horrible]

At the end of the day clubs became behemoths that cannot sustain their own size, Covid has hit them the hardest, nobody is buying their Merch, And Real and Barca are having their debt called in.  I say this rather than grab all the share in CL mony and keep it?  here is the actual fix:

 

Cut your cloth accordingly!

 

Its not rocket science, being competative with others is the brand,  an East Fife or a Bristol Rovers should be allowed to grow into winning the CL if thats their aim.  Chelsea once paid £100k for Bannon, thay also had Pat Nevin, Now they  pay £40m for a guys who might not make the bench

Edited April 20, 2021 by Hagar the Horrible

[kila]

29 minutes ago, ri Alban said:

Fans don't want it. Sure they don't. And wee groups of doughnuts don't speak for everyone. The usual suspects who think what they say counts for everyone else. Just like this place. 

 

There was a YouGov poll that showed 79% of fans are against it. Do you have anything that shows majority of fans are in favour?

 

[Berra than you]

4 minutes ago, kila said:

 

There was a YouGov poll that showed 79% of fans are against it. Do you have anything that shows majority of fans are in favour?

 

Of course fans don't want it. The vast majority of fans that watch their team week in week out can blatantly see this is a terrible idea. 

I don't think however that that will mean the ESL will flop, as audiences in the states, the Middle East and Asia will all buy into it. Imo.

[May one-six]

I must admit, the more that the likes of the SPFL/SFA/FA/EPL/UEFA/FIFA rail against this Super League, the more I warm to it. Anything that gets them so irritated and worked up is worthy of examination. Plus, it will have close to zero effect on us, so we can be amused observers of a serial shitshow.

[avhudtheteeshirt]

The EPL should fine the teams who signed up for bringing the game into disrepute!

The fine should be in line with how much the club would get for competing in this seasons Premiership!

If all that these teams worry about is money then take it from them and expel them!!!

Also ban them from playing games on English soil as they have their own league that they did not want to compete in!!!

[Pap]

43 minutes ago, Under the floodlight said:

Will be interesting to see who the First manager is who goes to one of the twelve.

 

Keep your eye on Spurs

[Hagar the Horrible]

1 minute ago, Pap said:

 

Keep your eye on Spurs

I am putting my money on the Blessed Brendan

[ri Alban]

 

This dude was let out of English football along time ago. 

[Rogue Daddy]

8 hours 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

There would be - initially, but think about this. No uglies = 6 teams challenging for the title every year and the CL places that come with it. TV revenues would be down, so if you want to watch your team, you have to buy a ticket increasing gates. Games would be back to 3pm kick-offs every Saturday, clubs would HAVE to invest in youth because they won't have the monies to spunk on European flops.

 

Yes, initially it would be tough, but it would be the making of Scottish football, not it's demise. I'd go further and say this HAS to happen for the good of the game in this country.

 

Outside of Scotland the SPFL doesn't exist, and if it does, you can bet there's only two teams that are being marketed. Get rid.

[jack D and coke]

1 minute ago, Rogue Daddy said:

There would be - initially, but think about this. No uglies = 6 teams challenging for the title every year and the CL places that come with it. TV revenues would be down, so if you want to watch your team, you have to buy a ticket increasing gates. Games would be back to 3pm kick-offs every Saturday, clubs would HAVE to invest in youth because they won't have the monies to spunk on European flops.

 

Yes, initially it would be tough, but it would be the making of Scottish football, not it's demise. I'd go further and say this HAS to happen for the good of the game in this country.

 

Outside of Scotland the SPFL doesn't exist, and if it does, you can bet there's only two teams that are being marketed. Get rid.

Agreed mate. We even had better youth players when were absolutely peppered. Forced to play them. 
Its not the end that it looks. 

[milky_26]

4 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

I am putting my money on the Blessed Brendan

i reckon nagelsmann

[Rogue Daddy]

3 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

Agreed mate. We even had better youth players when were absolutely peppered. Forced to play them. 
Its not the end that it looks. 

Exactly. It's not a coincidence that the last time Scotland qualified for a major championship - the 3 foreigner rule was still in play.

 

The uglies need Scottish football more than we need them... and the sooner certain club chairmen get their heads around this, the better for Scottish football.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Rogue Daddy

[Hagar the Horrible]

1 minute ago, milky_26 said:

i reckon nagelsmann

is he enough of a mercinary?

 

Lets aslo see who the Succulent Six sign players who have no shame, lets face it if you had shame you would never sign for celtic

[connlach]

Good effort 🤣🤣

 

https://www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk/news/2021/april/big-six-shirt-amnesty-launched/

[Vansen]

I don't see what the problem is. 

 

Let the clubs have their casino football but under no circumstances let them retain their places within their leagues. They are, after all, banking on staying in their national leagues so they get the best of both worlds. 

 

There would be a re set of TV money of course, however, once clubs realised that they have a legitimate chance of champions league football (assuming the 12-20 clubs are thrown out) then fans will no doubt back the big clubs being told to bolt.

[milky_26]

9 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

is he enough of a mercinary?

 

Lets aslo see who the Succulent Six sign players who have no shame, lets face it if you had shame you would never sign for celtic

currently works for red bull leipzig, so i would say yes

 

edit re the signing of players i wonder if de bruyne knew about this as he has just signed a new deal. also did tuchel know? i also wonder if chelseas german players (haevertz, werner, rudiger) will now want to leave as german players seem to really care about playing for their country

Edited April 20, 2021 by milky_26

[Under the floodlight]

13 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

I am putting my money on the Blessed Brendan

It'll be someone with thick skin who has no qualms about being called Judas. Apologies to those of a non Christian persuasion but I don't know all the equivalents to Judas.

[Mikey1874]

9 hours 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. 

 

Just Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay out of the international side.

 

What's Barry Douglas doing these days?

[milky_26]

1 minute ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

Just Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay out of the international side.

 

What's Barry Douglas doing these days?

barry douglas is at blackburn on loan from leeds, assuming he is fit i would be getting hickey in at least the next squad

[Hagar the Horrible]

1 minute ago, Vansen said:

I don't see what the problem is. 

 

Let the clubs have their casino football but under no circumstances let them retain their places within their leagues. They are, after all, banking on staying in their national leagues so they get the best of both worlds. 

 

There would be a re set of TV money of course, however, once clubs realised that they have a legitimate chance of champions league football (assuming the 12-20 clubs are thrown out) then fans will no doubt back the big clubs being told to bolt.

They must know there is a risk that that might not happen,  FA's and Leagues  might have the jacobs to expel them,  But they do normaly blink first, history has taught us that.  So if they are willing to take that gamble then they dont care either way. 

 

Lets assume they are thrown out, the TV money will be die hard Liverpool fans and the Asian Markey who want to watch it on the telly peppered with some football tourists.  But lets see if the Essex and District Red Devils Supports bus decide to support West Ham instead?

[Cade]

Gianni Infantino, the president of Fifa:

“At FIFA, we can only and strongly disapprove the creation of the super league, of a super league which is a closed shop, which is a breakaway from the current institutions.
No doubt whatsoever of Fifa’s disapproval.

Full support to Uefa.”

“It is my task and our task to protect the European sports model, club competitions, national teams.

If they choose to go their own way, they must live with their choice.

They are either in or out.

They cannot be half-in and half-out.”

“My task, our task, is to save club football, international football.”

 

 

[SectionDJambo]

This affair has highlighted the ultimate problem for football worldwide. There are very few football associations or organisations that football fans can trust to represent all clubs in a fair and consistent manner. Money has always been a problem, but the sums being flung about these days are staggering and certain to attract corruption.
When fans in the 3 countries affected by this move are relying on UEFA and FIFA to uphold the competitive principles of football, we know that we are in a very uncomfortable place. 
The depressing thing for us in Scotland is that our hoodlums, small fry though they most certainly are in European terms, have a grip on our football that nobody appears to be around to save us from.

[Hagar the Horrible]

At the end of the day this is a controversy we are not bang in the middle of it for a change.  Seriously AB has missed an opertunity to troll the league by leaking that we are in advanced discussions.

 

Oh the seethe!!!!!

[Hagar the Horrible]

15 minutes ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

Just Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney and Scott McTominay out of the international side.

 

What's Barry Douglas doing these days?

Aaron Hickey at LB, that takes out Robbo and Tierney in one go,  And McTominay could be replaced by a natural centre half

[jambostuart]

26 minutes ago, Rogue Daddy said:

There would be - initially, but think about this. No uglies = 6 teams challenging for the title every year and the CL places that come with it. TV revenues would be down, so if you want to watch your team, you have to buy a ticket increasing gates. Games would be back to 3pm kick-offs every Saturday, clubs would HAVE to invest in youth because they won't have the monies to spunk on European flops.

 

Yes, initially it would be tough, but it would be the making of Scottish football, not it's demise. I'd go further and say this HAS to happen for the good of the game in this country.

 

Outside of Scotland the SPFL doesn't exist, and if it does, you can bet there's only two teams that are being marketed. Get rid.

 

I get what you're saying, and I personally relish watching a much more competitive league, however it's debatable we would have CL places, perhaps 1 but without Rangers or Celtic boosting our co efficent with their runs in Europe, that would be much more difficult. 

 

I'm not saying a league without Rangers or Celtic wouldn't be more positive for you or I, I'd love it, but how would you keep the interest when as you say yourself we'd be even more reliant on gate tickets than we are now, and the hunger for these games might not be there from your more casual fan when there's a "glamour league" just next door? Rangers and Celtic wouldn't cease to exist, they'd just be playing in a bigger league, drawing a bigger crowd. 

 

The example of 27,000 for the Texaco Cup someone mentioned before actually backs up my point I think. Football has so much more to compete with now, especially in capturing the interests of younger fans than it did then, what with technology, internet and much easier travel etc, and that's before we look at the plastic fans there weren't so many of back in the day as Sky hadn't brainwashed them.

 

 

[Vansen]

3 minutes ago, Hagar the Horrible said:

They must know there is a risk that that might not happen,  FA's and Leagues  might have the jacobs to expel them,  But they do normaly blink first, history has taught us that.  So if they are willing to take that gamble then they dont care either way. 

 

Lets assume they are thrown out, the TV money will be die hard Liverpool fans and the Asian Markey who want to watch it on the telly peppered with some football tourists.  But lets see if the Essex and District Red Devils Supports bus decide to support West Ham instead?

Agreed, I think these clubs also forget that there loads of other medium to big sized clubs elsewhere. Taking into account the english premiership, removing the '6' gives massive opportunities to the rest of the league and instead of clubs like Newcastle fighting relegation, you might see them challenging like they did under Keegan. 

 

In England you have Leicester and west ham challenging, big clubs like Villa, Everton and Newcastle. 

In Spain, villareal, seville, Valencia.

In Italy, napoli, lazio etc.

Around Europe, ajax, PSV, anderlecht, the French and German clubs, Porto, benfica etc etc. 

I reckon if they just tell the clubs who want to leave to bolt, there are loads and loads of remaining big clubs who will now have possible access to European football. 

It could be a good thing that those clubs leave.

And who knows, maybe we might find themselves back in Europe in the future 😁 

The clubs that want to leave are absolutely banking on staying in their national leagues. Chuck them out!

[inspector]

24 minutes ago, connlach said:

Good effort 🤣🤣

 

https://www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk/news/2021/april/big-six-shirt-amnesty-launched/

I can never understand why, if l was a Grimsby supporter, buying the shirt of another English team. Similar to me buying a Brechin shirt. Feck that, l support Hearts, not some other mob.