Why is the new football ESL so controversial?

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Can some explain like I'm 5?

Why are all the fans, the government, UEFA etc up in arms?

Sorry.... Just not sure what the problem is?

I honestly have no idea why people pay for season tickets, merch, subscriptions etc You are treated like mugs but they wouldn't have the £££ without you.

@queenofarles

Sorry if it’s been mentioned but will these teams still play in the premier ?

They will, there is no way the premier league will kick them out, they bring too much revenue to the table in tv rights. The plan for the ESL is shit but these big 6 teams are the ones with the biggest viewing figures so the premier league won’t kick them out.

It’s all a bit bargaining chip, they don’t get what they perceive as their fair share of the revenue so they are essentially trying to hold the FA and the premier league ransom.

As a big Liverpool fan I’m very disappointed but not surprised, the owners don’t care about the history of the club or the club ethos, it’s just a revenue stream to them. Every Liverpool fan loves a big European night at Anfield, this league will kill that. It will become the norm to play real, Barcelona etc - where is the excitement in that.

The problem is the players and managers can moan and say they don’t agree with it but this will create a situation where top players will only move between the clubs guaranteed to play in this league - ultimately the vast majority of them will tow the line for this reason!

DH is hoping this goes ahead, so they d get chucked out of the premiership, and it leaves a more interesting battle between the remaining teams (Wolves, Leicester, West Ham etc) once these clubs are out of the way. He's surprised that some of these names have joined, as they've won naff all for years, but I guess it's just a big name / recognised name thing, rather than actual sporting prowess.

Thanks Laffinalltheway. It's like a secret handshake!

@MrsWhites you are right about seeking to hold the FA and Premier League to ransom. Hence my wish for the government to step in so it is unprofitable for them to participate.

@newnortherner111 I hope they listen to fans and commentators and do the right thing but I think their is a certain ironing in Boris Johnson ranting and raving about their behaviour given how his government award contracts!

Is this something that the Gov should get involved with though? I don't see sorry matters like this as something that the Gov should concern itself with?

@AnneElliott I think yes they should. Like it or not, sport is an important part of exercise especially for children, who often get taken about in cars and so not getting even the exercise of walking to and from school. If a sport is seen to be a closed shop or interest in lost because there is no possibility of a local team ever winning something, then participation in sport and therefore exercise may decline.

It's also an issue about those not based in the UK and paying no UK tax having too much say. We voted to take back control, not have a bunch of US, middle East and Russian billionaires run things.

UEFA and Fifa are more powerful, especially if they will ban players from playing for their country.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/56801061
13 African nations could lose players

Anyone who thinks elite (ie, tier 1) football hasn't been "all about the money" for at least the last 25+ years is sadly deluding themselves. The Super League is just the logical next step in this journey.

Unless you support a lower division or non-league club, you've been an irrelevance to your team for years, a mere cash-cow for the latest strips, merch and overpriced tickets. There is no "trickle-down" economics in football beyond the crumbs off the top table the big teams are compelled to share.

This is an inevitable next step. I can't get too exercised about it, football has been declining from a fan's perspective since the early 90s. And I'd rather a balmy Wednesday evening in the San Siro than at a drizzly Hawthorns or similar! Maybe it won't be all bad?

[quote MrsWhites]@newnortherner111 I hope they listen to fans and commentators and do the right thing but I think their is a certain ironing in Boris Johnson ranting and raving about their behaviour given how his government award contracts![/quote]

• there is a certain irony not their is a certain ironing - that wouldn’t help at all! 😂

@MalteserGeezee

Anyone who thinks elite (ie, tier 1) football hasn't been "all about the money" for at least the last 25+ years is sadly deluding themselves. The Super League is just the logical next step in this journey.

Unless you support a lower division or non-league club, you've been an irrelevance to your team for years, a mere cash-cow for the latest strips, merch and overpriced tickets. There is no "trickle-down" economics in football beyond the crumbs off the top table the big teams are compelled to share.

This is an inevitable next step. I can't get too exercised about it, football has been declining from a fan's perspective since the early 90s. And I'd rather a balmy Wednesday evening in the San Siro than at a drizzly Hawthorns or similar! Maybe it won't be all bad?

But we already have the opportunity to have those balmy evenings in the San Siro via the champions league but teams have to earn their place not buy it!

It looks like Ajax might be one of the mystery three; this is from the guardian...

There is a website on the Dutch country code top-level domain (www.thesuperleague.nl), but no website on, for example, the Portuguese or Belgian country code top-level domain (www.thesuperleague.pt or www.thesuperleague.be).

I was an ardent Stoke fan for 35 years until last month and the ten years in the EPL and a season in the Europa League was just so super incredible. This spits in the face of the dreams that clubs aspire to make a reality all for filthy money. Disgusting.

And of course riling up Arsene Wenger was priceless and unforgettable!

With regular trips to the San Siro, it will soon feel l liking going to the Hawthorns with added costs and travel time.

@WhipperSnapperSteve

I was an ardent Stoke fan for 35 years until last month and the ten years in the EPL and a season in the Europa League was just so super incredible. This spits in the face of the dreams that clubs aspire to make a reality all for filthy money. Disgusting.

Whatever you think about Stoke the Coates family are local and do a hell of a lot for the local community (my kids used to go to the same school as some of the Coates grandchildren).

DialSquare
It's like a secret handshake!

I know it too - although I'm not an Arsenal fan!

I'd like to see the FA and the EPL hold their nerve and kick them out. It will be much more interesting if the game isn't dominated by the big names all the time - speaking as someone who has supported Leicester on and off since the 1980s, back when Lineker and Lynex featured on the sports news on the local radio every Saturday.

Am hugely disappointed in Liverpool, though. If any club should know what football means to real fans, they should.

That's the thing, it would really suck for the supporters of these 6 clubs, but would it make the league more competitive and interesting for everyone else? Maybe!

They used to have a cartoon in the S!n called Striker and his team left the premiership to join a world league. The world league was just a money laundering front and all the other team managers were in on it but striker didn't have a clue because he was a bit dim.
Anyway as a City fan I'm very disappointed and this has taken the shine off upcoming champions league game. As a pp said, I miss the old div 2 days.

Anyone who thinks elite (ie, tier 1) football hasn't been all about the money for at least the last 25+ years is sadly deluding themselves. The Super League is just the logical next step in this journey

Exactly. It’s the supporters groups of the big clubs that’s actually do loads in the club communities to be honest. The fans are just seen as replaceable now unfortunately. Who cares ‘who’ is sitting in the stadium as long as EPL, UEFA or whoever are getting their payday. Like the champions league or europa finals where half the seats are for corporate guests. Yet it’s the fans that travelled overseas for the group stages etc but who cares about them.

I can see why the clubs want more control as they are sick of EPL and UEFA and the fact they don’t have control over commercial rights. It also boils down to constantly increasing expectations of the big clubs to win and sign big players. The amount of hypocrites I see on twitter wanting to sign Haaland or Mbappe on mega wages a few weeks ago but then cry when their club is effectively trying to make more money to finance these star purchases by playing more of the lucrative games. How do they think it gets funded?? You cannot pay big superstar wages and have a massive roster without money! The market is now skewed towards people wanting to see the big clubs play each other and that’s where the money is. Now it’s finally hitting home to fans that the owners don’t care about the traditions or the derby between Chelsea and Fulham because people (basically a global audience) want to see Chelsea v Madrid.

There should have been effort to put financial controls on clubs long ago. The EPL isn’t even competitive, Leicester winning in last ten years is the only non ‘big six’ winner. Few clubs have the financials to succeed and win now, unless it’s a fluke year, and it’s sad. The idea that the Stokes and Blackburns would get promoted and a stab at taking on the big clubs is now a pipe dream unless they get taken over by a billionaire.
The problem is the EPL and UEFA wanted big billionaire owners to plough cash in the game, tried to put some breaks on via FFP as a token effort, then didn’t even enforce it against PSG and Man City! On talk sport they said last year the big six made losses of 1.5bn and their owners are not going to bail them out forever! So they need this super league to be a pay day effectively. Yet fans and politicians seem to think clubs make loads of money? They are wrong because it’s the players and agents that really make the money!
It’s massively sad for the game and genuinely fans who will lose out due to the money men and lawyers further monetising the game. Don’t get me wrong I don’t like what’s happening, but I can see the drivers that have led us here. Money changes everything, and clearly not always for the better.

@UserEleventyNine why would you be more disappointed in Liverpool than anyone else? I’m a Liverpool fan and am personally disappointed into the owners, choosing money over fans enjoyment but at the end of the day all of these billionaire owners are as bad as each other.

That said very few fans will actually stand their ground if their teams do join this new league. Will they really stop going to games, give up seasons tickets that they’ve had for decades and stop buying their children kits? I’ll own up and say I’ll still being doing all of those things because I support the club - it’s the owners I have a problem with.

@AnneElliott

Is this something that the Gov should get involved with though? I don't see sorry matters like this as something that the Gov should concern itself with?

This is the culture of our country - originally working class, now across classes. It's hugely important - for many of us it speaks to who we are and what we are about.

The government steps in to preserve important cultural assets in other spheres - stately homes, churches, art, opera, so why not football? Working class culture is every bit as important as that . You could argue important because so little remains.

I am officially neutral on this, honest. They can do whatever.

It makes me laugh that British sport fans think their game isn't about who has the most money. Of course the richest clubs do best. Maybe not every year & every game -- but over all, wealth determines the winners. It's fantasy to think otherwise.

I come from North America where we have a "closed shop" system in elite professional sport so it's fine by me & normal enough. The leagues are very competitive. We have a lot of measures to try to balance out the competitive strength of weaker vs. stronger teams (look up rules of NFL draft, & revenue sharing measures as others alluded to). We have a lot of stability & more investment long term (I reckon). But no fantasies that money doesn't determine the winners. Pffffffttt...

In US system the teams can move town completely because tradition isn't that important I realise that's even more outrageous to European football hooligans-- fans than closed shopness. Our baseball & football & hockey games are nice, though. You can bring little kids & not hear a single swear word. Opposing fans tailgate together before the game. Afterwards fans of the losing side grumble but sit side by side with opposing fans & don't get into brawls. I'm just saying...

Greedy greedy greedy greedy. No one has said anything postive about this.. it seems so pointless! And take away any excitement really. There's the top 4 battle this season that my team Chelsea are involved with..yet that won't happen..plus if a team loses a load of games and fall behind what's there to play for?!

Good on fans protesting. This is dumb. The bits I understand sound dumb anyway. Money talks