The Super League

[OntarioFox]

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

The only group of fans that gains anything from this are foreign football fans who have never set foot in England, let alone been to Old Trafford and the like.

Quick anecdote time I think is pertinent to share with FT now.

 

At my old job here in Canada, people used to ask me about England all the time, and often about Leicester and football. One guy had visited the UK on holiday once. No interest in football, but let onto me that Man Utd. were 'his team'.

 

After a bit of prodding as to why, turns out his family decided to 'take in a game' as part of their trip, because it is apparently something everyone who visits the UK now wants to do. It's in the tour guides, like Bath, Stonehenge or the London Eye. They didn't even know anything about the city of Manchester - hadn't even heard of Britpop. 

 

He was shocked when I bluntly told him that Old Trafford had the worst atmosphere of any ground I'd ever been to. Other takeaways from that conversation that made me physically cringe were:

 

- Complaining that he and his family were in 'separate parts of the arena', and that he was too far back to see the players' names on their shirts'

 

- Being genuinely shocked at the 'fans of the other team' being in a different section ('penned in by police' was his description)

 

- not even knowing which team Man Utd. played against

 

It was an astounding conversation, and brought home to me just how little the 'casual market' these big six willy pullers knows or cares about how football works even on a basic level.

 

I have friends here who understand football - who can talk about it til they're blue in the face. But they're still detached from the connection we as fans on the terraces are blessed to have. And ultimately, its the money of folks like the clueless guy I mentioned who are the target of the ESL.

 

I'm afraid that it probably will be lucrative. I've never been to a ground as corporate and full of foreign day-trippers as Old Trafford, so it was depressing but not surprising to hear his story. And Man Utd. and the other snakes will push to fill the seats vacated by actual fans with plastic visitors such as him.

 

The only real way to stop it being a success is A) government pressure and B) stopping games being able to occur. It's reassuring to hear the government is already on the warpath against this, but if it does go ahead then from a fan level, there has to be mobilisation during games - average joe fans stay away but a handful do attens just to stir it up and embarrass the 'brand' on global TV. That means more banners, more planes and - hopefully - disruption, pitch invasions and the abandonment of fixtures. Make it impossible to play.

[bovril]

Just now, OntarioFox said:

Quick anecdote time I think is pertinent to share with FT now.

 

At my old job here in Canada, people used to ask me about England all the time, and often about Leicester and football. One guy had visited the UK on holiday once. No interest in football, but let onto me that Man Utd. were 'his team'.

 

After a bit of prodding as to why, turns out his family decided to 'take in a game' as part of their trip, because it is apparently something everyone who visits the UK now wants to do. It's in the tour guides, like Bath, Stonehenge or the London Eye. They didn't even know anything about the city of Manchester - hadn't even heard of Britpop. 

 

He was shocked when I bluntly told him that Old Trafford had the worst atmosphere of any ground I'd ever been to. Other takeaways from that conversation that made me physically cringe were:

 

- Complaining that he and his family were in 'separate parts of the arena', and that he was too far back to see the players' names on their shirts'

 

- Being genuinely shocked at the 'fans of the other team' being in a different section ('penned in by police' was his description)

 

- not even knowing which team Man Utd. played against

 

It was an astounding conversation, and brought home to me just how little the 'casual market' these big six willy pullers knows or cares about how football works even on a basic level.

 

I have friends here who understand football - who can talk about it til they're blue in the face. But they're still detached from the connection we as fans on the terraces are blessed to have. And ultimately, its the money of folks like the clueless guy I mentioned who are the target of the ESL.

 

I'm afraid that it probably will be lucrative. I've never been to a ground as corporate and full of foreign day-trippers as Old Trafford, so it was depressing but not surprising to hear his story. And Man Utd. and the other snakes will push to fill the seats vacated by actual fans with plastic visitors such as him.

 

The only real way to stop it being a success is A) government pressure and B) stopping games being able to occur. It's reassuring to hear the government is already on the warpath against this, but if it does go ahead then from a fan level, there has to be mobilisation during games - average joe fans stay away but a handful do attens just to stir it up and embarrass the 'brand' on global TV. That means more banners, more planes and - hopefully - disruption, pitch invasions and the abandonment of fixtures. Make it impossible to play.

The sad thing is I grew up amongst Liverpool and United 'fans' in England like that.

[Silva Fox]

Surely the owners of these clubs have proved themselves to be unfit and proper  - can they not be chucked out and the clubs remain? (naive question I know!)

[FoxesWalk]

1 minute ago, Torten said:

They surely cannot go unpunished if they do end up crawling back from this. Imagine competing in a league where you never know at any moment if they might pull something similar. 

 

They should face points deductions for bringing the league into disrepute IMO, it affected the game last night, and until this is resolved it affects every game in the league that is yet to be played, particularly those involving the 6.

[Paninistickers]

5 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

 

Loving it..

 

This thing is getting toxic. Brands are shying away from it. 

 

I know a bit about amazon through work and despite all the predictable bad press, they are actually quite a cuddly, silicon Valley ethical meritocracy than they are given credit for. 

[Kingleicester]

3 minutes ago, Strokes said:

Caragher is a slimy piece of shit isn’t he? You can tell how conflicted he is when Liverpool get targeted and tries to deflect it onto the other clubs. He would 100% support this league if it wasn’t so unpopular. Twat.

He pissed me off yesterday, moaning about Boris, saying he shouldn’t get involved in football, bringing the “always the victim card up” about Hillsboro, ffs the government are trying to stop this, I think it’s the typical Liverpool character 

[Torten]

Just now, FoxesWalk said:

They should face points deductions for bringing the league into disrepute IMO, it affected the game last night, and until this is resolved it affects every game in the league that is yet to be played, particularly those involving the 6.

Definitely, although it seems to be having a negative effect on the big teams (albeit based off the one game). 

It's obvious the majority of the players despise this, and they're the ones who have all the power here.

[SecretPro]

Brendan:

 

 

RODGERS: SUPER LEAGUE PRIORITISES BUSINESS OVER SPORT

Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers believes a breakaway Super League proves football is prioritising business over sport.

The Foxes manager feels the six Premier League teams involved in the plans cannot forget their success also comes from those in the division.

He said: "There has been a line drawn in the sand with all of this. It has moved across from what looks very much like a purely business proposal. All the merits of teams and rewards in sport, it looks like from the outside that isn't really taken into the ideas going forward.

"We understand now, as much as any time, football is moving from sport to business but we must never lose the fact it is a sport and is a game for supporters and players. That always has to be at the forefront of any decision.

"We see the evolution of the game, teams who progress and develop and that's the beauty of this league. The six teams who are there can never forget the brand of the Premier League is based around all the teams.

"The roots of their success are based around the other teams because of the competition, the bottom team can beat the top team."

 

[Gubbins]

Just now, FoxesWalk said:

They should face points deductions for bringing the league into disrepute IMO, it affected the game last night, and until this is resolved it affects every game in the league that is yet to be played, particularly those involving the 6.

I doubt the PL will have the balls to just ditch them but a nice compromise would be bans from Europe for next season and that they would all start on say -25 or -30 points. Would be an amazing season at both ends of the table!

[davieG]

37 minutes ago, peach0000 said:

Not sure Blackburn can be compared to us but this is good regardless!

 

11 minutes ago, Kingleicester said:

The club the size of Blackburn back then beating the likes of Man U, Liverpool, Leeds even forest to the tittle is some achievement, 

Blackburn bought the League with money invested by their owner Jack Walker that far outstripped anything other clubs were spending.

[Webbo]

14 minutes ago, SO1 said:

Legal is relative in todays world. Laws can be changed on a whim and have been for centuries/decades provided power and/or money are behind it and have been for centuries/decades. It would be interesting what your economy would look like(mine too) if you had fought for all of your off-shored businesses that had been allowed to abandon your country. Your economy would be much different shape now.

If you let the powers that be use their laws, that they have written for their benefit without challenge, then you might as well kiss your football leagues good bye. Sit, stand or rebuild. Its your choice. 

 

So your saying that lawmakers can act on a whim. Are you for that or against it, because you seem to be condemning it and calling for it at the same time? 

[TJB-fox]

5 minutes ago, Kingleicester said:

He pissed me off yesterday, moaning about Boris, saying he shouldn’t get involved in football, bringing the “always the victim card up” about Hillsboro, ffs the government are trying to stop this, I think it’s the typical Liverpool character 

Well he’s (rightly or wrongly) telling Boris to stay out of it because Boris is using it as a mechanism for credibility rather than because he actually cares. 

[Kingleicester]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

 

Blackburn bought the League with money invested by their owner Jack Walker that far outstripped anything other clubs were spending.

Loved every minute of it. as a young kid growing up hating Manchester Utd 

[Lambert09]

This is surely down to a game of poker now. The league need to seriously threaten to ban them... because many of these clubs will be assuming that worst case scenario we stop them playing for one season then they get back in. That’s literally what they want to happen. They get everything this way. 
 

permanently banning them is the only way that they might pull out of the esl as the league is too important.These clubs are relying on the fact that collectively they are strong and the league wouldn’t have the nachos to expel them

[simon789us]

14 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

 

[TiffToff88]

6 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

Loving it..

 

This thing is getting toxic. Brands are shying away from it. 

 

I know a bit about amazon through work and despite all the predictable bad press, they are actually quite a cuddly, silicon Valley ethical meritocracy than they are given credit for. 

 

They're not staying away from it though. They're saying they haven't been involved in any discussions (at this stage). Both Sky and Amazon put out very similar statements but none of them actually said they won't want any part in it should the opportunity present itself.

[Torten]

1 minute ago, Kingleicester said:

He pissed me off yesterday, moaning about Boris, saying he shouldn’t get involved in football, bringing the “always the victim card up” about Hillsboro, ffs the government are trying to stop this, I think it’s the typical Liverpool character 

Is literally the only good thing I have seen Boris do. No idea why Carragher is so against it, it is literally a socialist principle to interfere in business when bad things occur.

[Kingleicester]

1 minute ago, TJB-fox said:

Well he’s (rightly or wrongly) telling Boris to stay out of it because Boris is using it as a mechanism for credibility rather than because he actually cares. 

You don’t know that personally 

[Ric Flair]

Just now, Lambert09 said:

This is surely down to a game of poker now. The league need to seriously threaten to ban them... because many of these clubs will be assuming that worst case scenario we stop them playing for one season then they get back in. That’s literally what they want to happen. They get everything this way. 
 

permanently banning them is the only way that they might pull out of the esl as the league is too important.These clubs are relying on the fact that collectively they are strong and the league wouldn’t have the nachos to expel them

Absolutely, the PL and FA have to take a hard stance on this and not offer olive branches so quickly. 

[HighPeakFox]

Just now, Kingleicester said:

You don’t know that personally 

It's all about opinions, we're reminded constantly. 

[Les-TA-Jon]

17 minutes ago, urban.spaceman said:

 

 

Crikey you'd think Amazon streaming and the ESL would be bedfellows!

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Some great statements from the other 14 clubs today, shame LCFC likely won't do one.

[Glorious Leicester Fan]

29 minutes ago, bmt said:

I'm not sure you understand what an incel is.

I’m fully aware what an incel is. I also imagine there’s strong correlation between being an incel and a legacy fan bore. 

[TJB-fox]

3 minutes ago, Kingleicester said:

You don’t know that personally 

No I’m saying that’s the angle carra is coming from...

[CosbehFox]

40 minutes ago, LCFCCHRIS said:

Something that also really annoyed me is that they are trying to close off women's competition before it's even properly off the ground mainstream. Disgusting.

Which proves the complete mockery of it - excludes Europe’s greatest achieving female team and includes Liverpool, a club who dropped their financial support of their female team