According to ESPN’s James Olley, Arsenal have quit our membership of the European Club Association and Vinai Venkatesham has stepped down from his position on the board.
The Gunners CEO was only elected on 8 March (43 days ago) with the club stating at the time:
“We’re delighted that Vinai has been appointed to the European Clubs’ association board.
“The ECA represents clubs across Europe and is central to helping shape the future of the game with UEFA and FIFA.”
Vinai Venkatesham has stood down from his position on the ECA board. Arsenal have left the ECA.
— James Olley (@JamesOlley) April 19, 2021
The decision comes after Arsenal and 11 other clubs went behind the backs of the ECA’s other 230 members to organise the European Super League.
The announcement of the breakaway competition was confirmed last night. It has been pilloried left, right and centre. Lawyers are now involved.
It is a mess. And we’re right in the thick of it.
Well fuck…
I don’t know why we are joining the ESL, we are floundering in the EPL, will be the wiping boys in ESL, as this money will not be invested into the club. Its a private club. On the other hand if we just stay in the EPL, a good opportunity to challenge for the League title in the seasons when the bigger boys (what an irony that as one of richest clubs in the world for years we are not one of the big boys in the field). Ofcourse we’ll have tough competition from still half a dozen teams that… Read more »
This has nothing to do with competition or competing or having chances to win titles. This is a fundamental F U to football and to fans alike. We are only in this, because we can generate money and that Kroenke wants more of that. Period. End of discussion why they did this. It has nothing to do with competing with anything or anyone for anything.
It has to do with competition in that the “big clubs” don’t want to evenly split money with Midtjylland and the like anymore. The current CL and Europa set up kind of suck. This will suck slightly more for some, and less for the big clubs.
It sucks for the supporters of the big clubs even more. They’ve just lost their clubs. Maybe we deserve it for selling out initially.
Literally fuck these parasites man. They are destroying the English game and nobody gives a shit.
If this level of collusion were going on in lets say, the financial markets, the people involved would be facing 20-50 years in jail.
That’s the level of corruption on going here.
Surely not “literally” fuck them?! Lol. Whatever your sexual orientation, there’s no way you find Kroenke, Glazier, Perez attractive in that way.
The rich get richer, the poor get poorer, I am a working class man, and agree with you completely
When Abramovitch brought big money, we heard the same things. It was never going to bring success and would destroy healthy competition. What we actually witnessed is that Chelsea and City made the EPL more competitive. These clubs brought a lot of worldclass players and high-caliber managers to the league.
@Nacho Have you not been around for the last 15 years or something? KSE have literally not put a single penny into Arsenal. How deluded do you have to be, to think for one second that any of the cash they get from this ESL would go back into the side? There’s only one place that cash is going, and that’s straight into Stans bank accounts. To further prove how little interest KSE have in Arsenal. They didn’t even buy the club with their own money, which they easily could have done. They took out a fucking bridging loan to… Read more »
72M for Pepe and 50M for Partey (first time Arsenal actually activated a release clause). You think Arsenal made 50M from its business last year?
About top caliber managers (Pep, Klopp, Mourinho and Ancelotti at Chelsea), all were hired after the big investor came in. I wasn’t talking about the likes of Benitez.
And with 122m spent, we’re still 9th. The current system is not perfect by any means. However, since the inception of the PL, you’ve still had almost every team in the championship and some teams in L1 been in the Premiership at one time or another. You’ve had teams like Newcastle, West Ham Portsmouth, Norwich etc bounce in and out of the the top 20. Wigan, Bournemouth etc. I could go on. The idea that Arsenal will comfortably remain bottom of this new league with no ambition to reach for the best, so as long as the investors make their… Read more »
You are extremely naive to think the oligarch “invested” in Chelsea. They are loans. When the richest Englishman wanted to buy Chelsea he was expected to repay the oligarch his loans, £1billion+. The cost of a new stadium £1 Billion = £2 billion. So he decided to walk away & buy a French club. Had you or any football fan heard of the oligarch before he bought Chelsea? No, neither did any politician in the West. But when he bought Chelsea & started buying players for millions everyone across western Europe heard about him overnight. Chelsea was his guarantee against… Read more »
Roman Abramovich’s Russian coal field blood money destroyed Arsenal’s Invincibles the chance to build on their success by buying the title for Chelsea in 2004/05 and 2005/06. There was also the little matter of them tapping up and poaching Ashley Cole, then the best left back in Europe.
Don’t talk to me about him and Sheik Mansour making the Premiership more ‘competitive.’ They fucking ruined it – particularly for Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
Do you remember 2008 housing crisis?
Nobody went to jail and little people were screwed over.
But I totally agree with you on the rest, they are parasites and i still hope the game belongs to us, fans, not those greedy bastards.
The little people were certainly not screwed over.
That’s ahistorical populist bullshit. This isn’t a political or trumpist space, so maybe save it for somewhere else, eh?
Arsenal are mid table. The ownership has by deeds made it clear they’re not interested in challenging for the title. The only carrot that motivates them is the riches of Europe, which requires an effort.
Now take away that carrot by guaranteeing the club mid week moneymakers. Voila, nothing left to work for.
Yes, we’ll make more money. Yes, we’ll be able to afford better players than Leeds and Leicester. Do you think Stan will suddenly change his tune and spend more and try harder for the title than the Manchester clubs? Liverpool?
Fat fucking chance.
So, this means that we will have to pay even more to watch Arsenal on the telly, right? And we will just make the rich richer..
It means you should stop watching Arsenal on the telly altogether and find a club that’s not part of the billionaire monopoly league. As a lifelong arsenal fan I for one will be doing this
On that note, anyone seen who the ‘Venture Capitalists’ are that are bankrolling this shit-show? I need to know what to add to my boycott list.
Ah, JPMorgan is financing the loans to the clubs up front to get it off the ground, and One Mr. Ed Woodward is an employee of JPMorgan Chase bank.
J P Morgan.
You, the smartest of all of us. That the only subject we should have been discussing.
To me, ESL is going to happen. A court decision or settlment will require ESL to give big money to the leagues and UEFA. Again, fans are going to pay for all of that.
Have you all slept for the last 25 years. Tickets extortionate prices.
Replica shirts £60 oh and let’s promote 3 or 4 shirts this season.
Nothing happened then and within 3 years we will have the European super league.
Supporters and fans its your fault. if you acted years ago instead of just moaning we wouldn’t be in this position now.
An ‘I Told You So’ merchant – just what we need right now – at a time when we should be banding together to give voice to the ‘little fan’
Just means that instead of paying BT for European Football everyone across the world will have access to an internet platform for a lower subscription. Where instead of watching Arsenal play Dundalk, Molde or Slavia Prague, you can watch Arsenal play Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan.
If the EPL and FA want to stop this, instead of this becoming a midweek replacement for the corrupt and greedy UEFA, the European Super League will become our weekend football instead.
And the number of matches we would get to see cuts to less than half, and we’ll get spanked in every single one of them. Once we’re in and get the dole, you think Stan’s going to go the extra mile? Fuck no. And that assumes players will stick around for a league with no domestic competitions, possibly no international play for them, and only playing the same clubs over and over. If the PL and FA stand firm, there is no up side. Yes, the early round European matches can be a slog, but that’s the whole fucking point… Read more »
I think it’s a F U to FIFA/UEFA- the Kroenkes aren’t trying to target the fans. From the club owners’ point of view, there are too many games due to international play, their players incur injuries which puts their Champions League revenue at risk, and FIFA/UEFA just has too much power.
There is some truth to this, and FIFA/UEFA were too greedy to address these issues. Not that the European Super League is going to be any better. A pox on everyone’s house, I say.
From my understanding this guarantees MORE matches, not less. The league of 20 splits into 2groups of ten, who play round robin – that’s 18 guaranteed matches. Top 3 from each 10 + two ‘playoff’ spots rounding out 8 teams for quarterfinals. Quarters and semis are 2 leg. Final is single match. So there would be 18 guaranteed mid week matches. Europa is only 6 group stage guaranteed. If you’re good enough to be in it. More matches = more money. But if the PL and FA hold fast, those could be the only 18 matches for the whole season.… Read more »
This entire venture is being orchestrated by the American elements within Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool and AC Milan (yes Milan… CEO is American and former CEO of Arsenal). The league is set up based on what these owners know….. franchised sports, no relegation or promotion and guaranteed tv right income streams. It is purely financial with no respect for fans. Living in the USA for 22 years as a Gooner has educated me in one thing…. the pure passion that runs through our bodies for football is not matched in the same numbers anywhere in the USA. Yes they have… Read more »
From a business perspective Arsenal want to be in the ESL for filthy money. If we stay out Spurs have millions and millions of pounds head start over us. We cannot compete in a PL outside this competition (ha ha we can’t right now, I know). The victims, besides obviously the fans, are every other club outside this elitist, rich, clique. Billionaire owners and a billionaires club league have screwed all of European football, will further distort the transfer markets, and on it goes. UEFA’s cowardice when faced with oil money, FIFA’s corruption, they’ve all pathed the way for this… Read more »
UEFA & FIFA have literally paved the way for all of this to happen via their own disgusting corruption for decades, and now the chickens are coming home to roost at our expense. As that’s the reason why all of these cowboy owners from the US and elsewhere are getting involved in European football clubs is because its literally like trading on the financial markets but without the regulation — so they can do whatever they want, whenever they want. The only thing ever standing in their way were a few flimsy rules put in place by UEFA that they… Read more »
What kind of paving slabs have they used? (just in case I want to do my patio)
@Crash Fistfight
Corrupt shit ones, that will be no doubt extremely slippery
You really can’t work it out? I will give you the answer in one character:
£ or $ or € or whichever denomination you use/prefer.
Thank you but that wasn’t my Q. I’ve elaborated further.
I would think the sporting side of the organisation is in a tough situation.
If the pandemic made all this unprecedented, ESL has brought in a whole different level of unpredictably, moral Qs to deal with for the managing and playing staff.
Please stop this sport woketivism. Big games all the time. Big money to buy big players. When is the last time, we played against Real Madrid?
Stop this What??? Football has always been involved in activism. Fundamental to the union movement, especially in the 30’s.
On another note-not big games if it doesn’t matter who wins…
I think clubs want new age fans like you who cannot look at basic human ethos on which the clubs were built. The closed league stinks and so are these top 6! I pray all of the 6 are kicked out of English football system as a whole. They can fuck with their business which lack morals.
Makes me think of a quote from the Incredibles… When everyone is super, no-one will be… when every game is big, no game will be big…
There’s nothing ‘woke’ about not wanting to see the history and traditions of the sport we love being flushed down the toilet so that billionaires get richer. Being ‘woke’ has nothing to do with it.
What are you talking about? Why should we be the ones playing against Real Madrid and not Leicester, West Ham or Everton? What would the point of such a game be? Shall we just play the Emirates Cup every week? What has woketivism got to do with it? I’m absolutely furious and slightly ashamed, really.
No, we will play like CL round of 16 and above every week.
Not all of our great games and moments in history have been against the big teams. Remember when we came back from 4-0 down to beat Reading in the cup? Remember that Champions’ League semi-final against Villareal? Dennis Bergkamp’s two greatest goals for us, came against Leicester and Newcastle.
The best part of your dinner might be the dessert, but that doesn’t mean you only ever eat desserts, and stop eating the boring proper meals – you’ll get diabetes.
Can’t you see how unutterably boring that would be?
Exactly – Because we haven’t EARNED the right to play them! And I for one would like to play against Real because we – and they – have bloody scrapped and scraped our way past all the other European teams who might also want to play them (or us, for that matter… chance being a fine thing!). Not because a specious cabal of rich old men have grown tired of the tedious truth of true competition – that one meets on a level playing field and takes yer chances and gives yer best and the winners on that day… for… Read more »
Nothing personal against your view but this comment worries me greatly. I think it will be the most common thought in the mind of many but sadly for me misses the point entirely. I really don’t care how competitive we would be. The only thing that matters is somehow preventing this from happening or our game is dead. Players have to refuse to play. After that when they inevitably do, it’ll be for supporters to refuse to watch or pay anything into this farce because that’s what funds it all. Broadcasting companies need to refuse to back it. None of… Read more »
It would be awesome if all clubs and financiers involved go bankrupt and fail spectacularly.
Just for clarity, I know exactly why we are a founder member in the ESL. What I was musings about was the sporting aspect of it. Anyone who understands Arsenal know its a privately owned entity and that the owner has shown no interest in the on-field performance only balance sheet performance (they even sacked Gunnersaurus due to costs!). Hence from a sporting perspective (parking the lack of meritocracy of some teams permanently playing in ESL without any relegation), we’ll be one of the wiping boys for the other teams. I’m positive that most of the revenue by participating in… Read more »
If you want to win Championships then you would never get involved.
The people to blame are the same people who are moaning now. The supporters were screaming at boards to invest and spend. They were screaming for overseas investors to save their club. So in they came, in their droves foreign investors came in. UK owners snapped their hands off and handed over clubs to the foreigners who basically forced a breakaway from the Football League (yes try to remember the clamour to stop that happening in the 90s) They then scrapped the 3 European tournaments in favour of yes you guessed The Champions League and Europa League, UEFA saw this… Read more »
Chelsea and ManC have apparently quit the ESL. However, our club’s owner will try to stay on as long as ESL is a possibility.
Jose is the first Super League manager to be sacked.
I can’t even enjoy it. He’ll come out as a martyr and we’re being ridiculed along with Sp*rs for this obscenity.
No way did he resign
I was thinking he’s one of the managers cunty enough to actually be in favour of these plans.
Can’t be all bad then.
It’s a disaster! Watching him destroy Them was one of the last genuinely enjoyable aspects of this season.
Football will eat itself. This is now the main course.
Well that escalated quickly
“it’s a mess and we’re right in the thick of it” – just about sums it up. I was incredulous to see that tweet the Club put out. I would have thought they would have been ultra cautious on this, given the fire storm it has provoked. Instead they seem delighted – or Stan Kronke does, as do the rest of them. It would appear that they are going for this gung-ho and it’s not – as I might have assumed – a crass bargaining chip. I hope – against hope – that they pull back. But even if they… Read more »
That last paragraph sums it up. We don’t want this, but we’ll just go along with it anyway. Let’s see if fans really want to influence the game or whether Arsenal fans are just like Hill-Wood and put up their subscriptions for the new superleague. If this happens. I’m done.
If this happens it will end my lifelong (40 year) association with this once great football club. I’m so angry and sad right now.
In fairness to PHW, it was either Kroenke or Usmanov at the time. Tough call. Most would have chosen Kroenke at that stage.
He didn’t have to sell to either, he could’ve found other buyers. They were all greedy and Dein was the driving force.
All our old shareholders have allowed this to happen, Dein initially and then Fiszman, Hill Wood, Lady Nina. Then there is Ken Bates who let in Abramovitch and that started it all off. All the other six involved and some of the 14 left behind have sold their soul. But some of those 14 will be quietly hoping that once the ESL is up and running that there will be an ESL2 so that Everton and Leeds and Aston Villa can join the party, but no Norwich or Bournemouth, sorry guys you’re just too small…
I am asahamed of the direction our club is going with this. If this actually happenes and the ESL becomes a thing I honestly don’t know if I can continue to support what is clearly now a company and not a club
Seconded.
It’s early days so I’m trying not to be too dramatic, but this looks fucking horrific
Well, the European football is no longer just the European. It probably has more audience and money from other places like China, Arabs, USA, other Asian countries such as India, Singapore. Most of the people there, don’t care about the smaller European clubs. There is no club culture which has Europeans so much involved in their local clubs. Super league was long overdue.
( I do not necessarily support the ESL though)
well let’s hope you enjoy it then…. I prefer the old way of doing things.
I’m from an other place and you are wrong about us.
Absolutely agree. And this thing will go through, or it will be the greatest PR desaster in damn football history if it was to fail. If they would deduct 15 points this season, we would be in a relegation battle with Fulham. So good that they dropped points yesterday. I’m so damn fuming.
We deserve to be docked points for this. As do the others, Title battle between West Ham and Leicester, now that would be fun!
Fuk docking points, all clubs involved should be just booted from their national associations. “you want your own league? Good fuk-off and have at it!”
I am devastated at this, feels like the Soul of the club has been ripped out. All our years of history, our touch of class. How dare Kroenke do this, we are The Arsenal. The little ray of hope for me, is that this implodes on all involved, which could be a way to get Kroenke out of our club
No one has considred the players in all of this, they might not want to play and sacrifice their International Careers
I think it’s going to take players and managers of the clubs involved to speak out against this. They need to have the courage to stand up anaginst the clubs and say no
You think players and managers are not going to make more money out of it?
They will but only a small pool of them will which is the problem.
Young players in these ESL clubs may not see the big picture now just the dollars on the wall. But senior staff/players should know it’ll destroy the game over the next few years.
Like some have said previously, that touch of class has existed for a while. I wouldn’t see this Arsenal of today offering Sheffield United a rematch like it did in 1999.
I hope that all that can go wrong with the launch of this Super League does go wrong. This is disgraceful
It is easy to keep on saying, Kroenke does not invest in the club then be devastated when he actually put the club in the position to do so. Yes, he wants to make filthy amount money for himself, so what? If Arsenal becomes a better team.
We won’t become a better team though. He has a track record of minimal investment in his sports ‘franchises’. It is purely business for him and silverware is irrelevant. From his perspective this is just another sound investment, he does not care about the club, it’s history of it’s fans one little bit.
With no players on national teams, this could just as easy be the demise of these clubs. All the teams in all the other leagues in Europe, and all their fans, and their players playing for their countries, would just become more relevant to the next young kid playing ball in the park. And these 12-15-20 teams that play in the ESL without having played to get there, will inspire no-one. Could go both ways. Not having to play to win does take something away from a game, doesn’t it?
This particular argument about national teams is just hypocritical when you realise that the majority of the people here, led by Blogs, rant about international friendlies all the time.
I am sorry but you have to look at the NBA where it is absolutely not a priority for players to represent the US.
You are saying it’s not a priority for players to represent the US in basketball…..& then trying to apply that same logic to football – the biggest sport virtually everywhere around the world.
Honestly, words fail me in trying to explain what a ridiculous argument that is.
This is so naive.
Madrid and Barca have voted for this as they are in the shit financially. And for the first time their utter dominance is coming under threat.
All this league does (if we ignore the buttfuck it gives to everyone outside the ESL) is cement their position as world super powers.
We’ll still be the millionaire at a table of billionaires.
Actually, it remains to be seen whether Real and Barca will in fact vote for this. Because they are member-owned, I think there is almost certainly a way, under their rules, for the members to actually force a vote on the issue.
It’s about what the club is and why you support it. If you’re okay with supporting a company that only cares about its profit margin, good for you. I’m sure this exciting news that Arsenal has found a new revenue stream which moves past us old “legacy fans” and provides more engagement for stakeholders in emerging markets really gets your blood pumping. But I support a football club, not a megacorporation. I don’t give a fuck how much they “improve the team” if the goal is to compete in a soulless closed-circuit league with no European qualification. If this is… Read more »
I’ve been looking through this site, Facebook, Twitter, etc. and I can’t find one Arsenal supporter in favour of this. I’m sure people at the club………I guess I mean franchise now, must be seeing some of this.
Do you think they even care?
You need to go to FB pages and twitter being used by fans who do not live in England.
Far too many folks already think the CL is the be all and end all rather than being the icing on the Premier League cake.
They don’t.
This is Stan Kroenke, the guy who moved St. Louis Rams to L.A. – do you think he cared about the fans in St. Louis?
Well, much worse than that. As part of his legal submission, Kroenke threw immense amounts of dirt on St. Louis, to justify the move.
“Kids grow up dreaming to win the World Cup and the Champions League – not any Super League. The enjoyment of big games is that they only happen once or twice a year, not every week. Really hard to understand for all football fans out there.”
Mesut Ozil
Shit got serious
About 600 years for silver & gold, they wiped out a community almost to extinction. And now this; nothing has changed – greed and greed alone for these businessmen.
Greed has destroyed the beautiful game we all once loved.
R.I.P Arsenal 1886 – 2021.
I came up with the same Idea. I would say I followed Arsenal 1886-2006 and its proposter from there on. David Seaman said on Twitter, that he will have a right go at it today.
People keep saying things like this but we just seem to be trading one bunch of greedy cunts for another
And the league, the clubs lower down etc are all just acting in their own best interests as well as they always do
Not saying I think this is a good idea but to suggest there is some kind of moral high ground on the other side seems a bit disingenuous
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the Premier League are saints (i have endless complaints) but they do clearly have some sort of moral high ground here. The ‘big’ clubs underperform currently, it costs them. Look at us with no CL football the last few years, Liverpool potentially next season. That will all be gone. It’s so, so wrong on every level.
Yes from a competitive point of view it seems wrong but on the other hand these are the clubs most people pay to see not fc somebody you’ve never heard of just so uefa and the TV companies can have another game to make money out of
Meanwhile all the players are being beaten into the floor
Fifa and uefa are doing a pretty shit job of organising things lets be honest
I’m more concerned about the effect on our own league
I suppose it would be fairer if they set up a new competition and gave the Premier league more slots given the teams we have in our league
I wouldn’t miss a lot of the bullshit games we play at the moment, or the UCL group stages
But that is precisely the point on European leagues. Clubs from every country have a chance to play in Europe and a theoretical chance to be European champions. They earn their place through their home league and then through preliminary rounds etc. Even now English, Spanish, Italian etc big league clubs start a few round later, so they wouldn’t have to play FC Somebody in June. And if FC Somebody fight their way through to the group stage, that is only a fair prize for their work. Also, these big leagues already have more places in the European leagues. Do… Read more »
But if fc somebody you have never heard of disappear, then where do all the new generation of players come from? Are all these mega clubs going to produce a hugely increased number of players from their own academies given they are the only show in town ?
I get your point, FIFA/UEFA are pretty fucking useless…. to be honest I am just so angry about this I’m probably not even thinking straight. I just can’t see a single upside to this for ANYONE…other than the owners.
I suppose what I am trying to say is it could be better if it was done right but I suspect it will boil down to what you are saying basically
Greed has been ruining the game for a long time there’s nothing new there
‘Greed has been ruining the game for a long time there’s nothing new there’
No one could argue with that, that’s for sure.
That’s the defeatist attitude that got us to where we are. There is greed, oh well, lets have more greed. Same applies for every other shitty thing – ‘it is what it is’ attitude. Fuck that. Unlikely, but hopefully fans globally take a stand and don’t sign up for this total bullshit.
If people aren’t interested in AFC playing ‘FC somebody’ – why even follow the sport? It’s like bitching about Federer or Nadal having to play rounds 1-6, just stick ’em in the final and watch that.
We can imagine the best one would still be poached to play in the mega dollar league.
But if all the money is concentrated (even more) in a small number of clubs & those lower down the tier have even less (or no) opportunity to get their big day in the sun, where do those clubs get the money to develop young players ? I guess the point I’m trying to make is that this (imo) will affect everything in football in a negative way down the line.
25 years we weren’t a club that neutrals would pay to see, either. At least in a league with relegation and promotion there is the possibility of change.
And, though it’s not likely to happen much anymore, big clubs–Man United, Liverpool–have even been relegated. Villa (remember–the biggest club in the UK’s second city, a European champion with a long history) went down only a few years ago. Forest, twice champion of Europe, has not come back up in a very long time. That risk was briefly mentioned about Chelsea in Jose’s last go-round, and for us (the only club never relegated form the top tier) not so long ago.
RiP The Arsenal
1886- 2003
I would argue 1886-1993 (the launch of David Dein/Rupert Murdoch’s premier league killing domestic football)
What a load of bollocks, greed has been great for the game. Greed has meant clubs no longer play in a crumbling, poorly designed, death trap stadiums Greed has enabled clubs to no longer play on mud bath pitches greatly improving the quality of football and player welfare Greed has has meant it’s no longer a regular occurrence that players retire crippled and destitute in there mid 30’s Greed as enabled clubs to employ hundreds more local staff There’s many more things to be grateful for in relation to football. The new Super League proposes $10bn in solidarity payments down… Read more »
Uefa is offering another final in Azerbaijan, where we will have to leave another of our starters at home because they’re not allowed in the country.
That famous European country, Azerbaijan!!
My god, that’s a misguided view… It’s growth not greed that has ticked all your above boxes mate. And that growth has been fueled by the ordinary fans who’ve loyally forked out their hard-earned wonga, week after week, good performances and shit-shows alike. It’s growth based in passion and loyalty – in choosing your colours and sticking by them. The current, disinterested greedy (you’re correct there) off-shore cunt who has been shrewd enough to usurp our kingdom while those we trusted slept through it, is a temporary blip in over a century of ups, downs and – yes – dodgy… Read more »
Yes, Growth via the Premier League business model, which is what the Super League is based on.
Before that, and the clubs ability to properly scale their business, the finances weren’t there. Clubs were playing in dilapidated, and dangerous grounds.
Arsenal for one funded the North Bank by getting the fans to pay for it via the bonds scheme, otherwise the money via growth just wasn’t there.
The ESL is NOT based on the EPL, which is one of the most consistently competitive football leagues in the global game. On the contrary, the ESL is anathema to the most essential tenets of competitive sport: an elitist, no-risk comfort-zone – TV fodder, rather than mercurial, gut-wrenching, sphincter-clenching, glorious competition – where nothing is guaranteed… other than that anyone – oil-baron, oligarch or ordinary fan – can, on any given day, have their moment in the sun. You bang on about ‘dilapidated and dangerous grounds’… those were – and are – few and far between, given the century plus… Read more »
Do you understand the meaning of the word greed? Because your point is arseways…
Yes i do, the objection to the super league is the clubs ability to control the scalability of the competition they’re participating in, all those things i mentioned were achieved by that method.
There’s a large hole appearing in your foot mate… you clearly do not get the point: the real objection to the SL competition is that it simply isn’t. A competition, that is.;
It’s a money-fuelled merry-go-round of sterile repetition, bereft of any chance, threat, jeopardy, underdog romance… the very soul of competitive football – and most other sport, for that matter.
Correlation is not the same as causation
How is this a new thing? In the last few years UEFA alone has added a playoff so big countries don’t miss tournaments. They added teams to Euros so big countries qualify easily. That’s the exact thing they’re mad about here. They absolutely screwed us and our fans by having a final in Azerbaijan that was super costly and one of our starting xi couldn’t even travel to. Then for non UEFA, you have teams like us spending tens of millions on agents to execute dodgy transfers. Millions spent on bribes for world cups. Slave labor used to build stadiums… Read more »
True! Football sold it’s soul when it allowed shady money and nation states to buy clubs and all that the fans cared for was success on field. How many leagues (incl champions league) are there in the world that can be won by any team outside of a handful of clubs? It could happen once in a decade but not often. Did we not see players traveling across continents during the peak of pandemic for international friendlies? Was that for some moral reason or was it fifa’s greed? In fact, even individually a lot of us would do the same… Read more »
I think football has just moved into the direction of no return. It’s turned into just another form of entertainment, atleast thats what the ones who run it think.
Next, they will launch a subscription style service to watch this, have the freekicks sponsored by a beer company and penalties by a biscuit brand.
Will Arsenal’s Official Penalty Biscuit Partner crumble the moment any pressure is applied?
I dont get how people think this all just happened yesterday. We’ve spent tens of millions ourselves to dodgy agents for transfers lately. We’ve seen multiple world cups bought by bribes. The CL and Euros format changed and made worse. VAR not helping. I get this might be the straw that broke broke camels back for some fans, but its just more of the same to me.
Spot on.
At this point I’m just meh.
Diving culture.
Agents like Raiola.
Neymar transfer fee to Barca.
Messi’s ridiculous contract.
Overblown transfer fees for players like Coutinho, James Rodriguez and Pepe.
Bowing down to China.
Racism across football.
Etc.
Uefa are complaining about the clubs wanting the exact treatment they’ve given national teams. Seeding playoffs so they won’t miss tournaments. Adding teams to euros so big teams don’t miss.
Sounds to me you’re after a strong and robust governance structure, one not corrupted by perpetuating their own financial interests?
A guy can dream…
But I think football is too far gone.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
And football’s power has been amplified even further in recent times thanks to 21st century technology + global appeal and all the cash that stems from that…
🤷♂️
Too much of the same for some of us.
If this goes through, that’s the end of it for me I think. Hope it can still be reversed.
It is the Order 66 ….. Run as long as you can!!!
Fuck the kroenkes, this is the last straw. GET OUT
If we don’t join our spot goes to a team like Leicester or Everton. Then Spurs, United, Everton are making half a billion more per season than us. I get not liking change, but the status quo sucks. The Swiss model of the CL wouldn’t be any better, it’s just closer to the current status quo. You’d soon see the same for Europa and all of a sudden we’d have 5 games per year in Eastern Europe.
The current status quo sucks because our club isn’t interested in doing what it takes for titles. If we did it wouldn’t suck.
fuck this shit. I was no ozil fan but i am glad he milked this fuckers to maximum. Arsenal fans – assemble and rebel against this nonsense which benefits only few founding clubs. If there is any link to change.org or donation for the protest please share here.
Arsenal broke my heart, for 20 years I supported them in good and bad and this is what I get. It feels like a betrayal of unspeakable enormity. I am speechless I truly am. This action will murder what the club had stood for. Over a century of tradition gone in a frenzy of madness! I hereby invite and appeal for all the fans, not only of this football club, but of every single one to unite and fight for the game we all fell in love with, to fight for youth who will stand no chance to succeed in… Read more »
Sh*t will get down soon. They would have not announced this, if they would not know, that they get what they wanted. I can’t imagine how you would feel, if you work for the club and have to let out those statements. Or the Physios, or my MVP Gary O’Driscoll. Or (Dani) Akers. Or Joe Monetmurro and the Arsenal Womens team. Or Academy players. Or anyone in general.How do they feel about that? How long did they hide this from us? How long did they know about it? If I would have learned about this yesterday or tomorrow in their… Read more »
I wanted to say yesterday or today.
Ar$enal Soccerball Consortium, founded 2021
If they bloody do a rebrand like Inter did perfectly in time, than I send all of my Arsenal Shirts to Hell or to the Emirates. I can’t choose between.
Oh, it just gets better and better.
Those in control of Arsenal FC at present seem to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
I think that’s me all done.
Bloody hell! What happens to our Europa League involvement now?
BT, Sky and all the others should come out and say “No, we won’t be buying rights to show this’. that’s the ONLY way this will die the immediate death it needs… Fans, Governing bodies, politicians, Players and managers, all can be replaced, only the broadcasters have the power here.
unfortunately, i doubt they would have made this annoucement without TV deals already agreed in principle
Yes, they too are all about the money. We’ve seen that already with the schedule changes etc etc. Bet they get some big money too.
I agree but this is hugely naive. When they say no another will say yes. The future is not just sky or bt, it is streaming, on demand, on mobile, anywhere. DAZN, Amazon, Netflix.
If the traditional broadcasters don’t sign up they will get left in the dust and forgotten. They know this as well as anyone.
Naive would be to say, its alright lads, the TV companies would never go for this…. but I never said that… the broadcasters have shown their true colours buy screwing fans and clubs about for years… why would they all of a sudden find a shred of moral fibre to stand up to this…
Agreed.. sad times. This is the death of 100 years of football as we know it
Sport without risk and pressure is not sport.
This plan never gets to this stage without a broadcaster already on board, and it’s almost assuredly one of Dazn, netflix or Amazon. The Athletic reported dazn was in but they seemed to waffle when reached.
Amazon will step in. That is what the last time around was spoken about and this is the only one possible. Sky are midgets compared to Amazon. They know exactly what they are doing, everything is in place and now it is just time to pressure FAs and UEFA and so on.
It wouldn’t matter, ESL could create their own website/broadcasting setup (not sure if they don’t plan doing that anyways) with pay-per-view subscription (something like UFC, Boxing etc.).
There are only losers in this case, no matter what happens 🙁
Super League? Who cares? Gunners shot in foot! I’m off to support Fulham.
I’ve always fancied Norwich.
Hell, if this happens I’d not mind supporting teams similar to those that made me feel in love with Arsenal to start with: Dortmund, Ajax, Atalanta…
Exeter City for me. Club owned by its supporters through a Trust, not by some greedy American.
I’ll still support Arsenal (I’m sure we all will really) but I’ll be following Reading much closer if this goes ahead.
I live in Gloucestershire, so it’s Forest Green for me (although I watch them already as I can only afford to see a few games at the Emirates if tickets are available)
If ESL fixes VAR I’m all for it 😅.
You’d be able to vote “offsides” via an app, costing only 50 USD pr. vote…
Time to start building Arsenal AFC?
I think the outrage was the same when the big clubs threatened to breakaway from the football league. The FA Premier League was created then. We all love that now. Guess which club was at the forefront of that?
That didn’t fundamentally change the structure of football and lock clubs out of the chance of reaching the pinnacle. Its an entirely different scenario.
One English club in the last 15 years not in the big 6 has made the CL group stage. If a Leicester won the PL again, they would surely be one of the teams invited in.
I dont love this idea, but the current structure already gate keeps itself very successfully.
So fix that, don’t double down on the stacked deck. Use reason.
I’m curious what Wenger, Fergie, Dalglish and so on will say about this. I think this will be a much bigger funeral, than the one of Prince Philip this week. Seaman said, he will go live on Sky sports and rip this thing to shreads. Parlour, Merson, Dixon, Adams will or should probably follow. It won’t help anything against it, but it will show, what the real Arsenal thinks about this dumpsterfire. I’m so damn disappointed, I visited the website the first time just now. I’m even more disgusted. I think we will see real change this year, but just… Read more »
If the Super league was for qualifying for, Arsenal board would have issued a statement that they won’t join the Super league
Off-topic: Amongst all this chaos some fun, although I would have loved for him to stay on. I’m sure that low life will say he was against the ESL.
https://news.sky.com/story/jose-mourinho-sacked-as-tottenham-hotspur-manager-12280152
Rumours are because he did not want to take players into training after joining this super league.
Really not a big fan of Mou, but I would love to see Mikel and our players do the same. This super league shit has to be killed
You can think whatever you think of Mounrinho, but respect to him if is true.
In all other things, still he is a cnt
What an absolute pristine set of Cunts we have masquerading as ownership, whom this club of ours is being driven through the slime and the mud of abject greed.
Sickening.
My heart feels heavy. I have no words for this.
Come on Hector. Rally the dressing room and boycott the competition. One last ride!
Little did we know, he’s been boycotting the club for a while now.
Mourinho just left Spurs please don’t say he quit because of this European Super League shite, the football world, and world at large, is doomed if he is the first to show strength of moral character
I’m sure he was just sacked for being shit. In any case, if he does actually have the balls to take a stand then good for him.
Wouldn’t be surprised. I’m no fan, but he’s never been afraid to put actions behind his words.
Just to clarify, he didn’t quit he was sacked. There’s a very important difference because there’s a huge compensation pay out for being sacked – like we paid to Arsene and Unai and their staffs (around £20 million in all).
For the last three decades the football authorities and sport media thought they could cash in without compromising the integrity of the sport but by letting these ruthless, valueless (in both senses) billionaires in they have undermined their own power to a fatal extent. The genie is out of the bottle and they are powerless to get it back in. If they compromise to preserve the old competitions they look weak and the “big” clubs win, if they punish them it will likely go to court and as with Man City vs Uefa that will only have one outcome. I’m… Read more »
What integrity? In the last 15 years we’ve had a World Cup go to Qatar because of bribes. The best team in Italy relegated for match fixing, then return and win almost 10 years in a row. Billions of oil money buy league titles in England and France. Hundreds of millions paid to agents to get transfers done in sketchy ways. There has been no integrity in the game for decades, it’s just always a matter of who is currently being screwed. Right now it is the fans (who I feel sorry for) and Uefa/FIFA (who I have zero sympathy… Read more »
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
I was never planning to pay the slightest bit of attention to the Qatar world cup and I absolutely hate this.
Does getting punched in the face make getting punched in the balls okay?
Your position makes no sense.
But its the fans who have helped drive this zero integrity version of the game forward. Without us paying in to the system, we wouldn’t be where we are. I have been whining for a decade, yet I didn’t walk away – kept pumping in my little share of the $$. Same with any other ‘big’ issue – I’m great at being shocked at the situation and taking to my keyboard, but doing my little part to enact ACTUAL change seems too difficult. It’s a vicious cycle whichever way you look at it and very difficult to fix without the… Read more »
If we had any integrity and strength of conviction we’d drop out of the Europa League in support of the action that’s been taken. I suspect integrity is in short supply among the weasels running the club
I have it in short supply, I still pay to follow AFC.
Surely, FIFA giving a threat of axing ESL players from representing there national teams would be the end of this joke? Of course the clubs pay their wages but opting out of their national teams would be a devastating decision for quite a lot of major players. I am hoping that fear of a player revolt would see the end of ESL.
I dont like this, but I’m sure not supporting Uefa or Fifa either. There are no heroes here, it’s the clubs who don’t want to split money with the smaller sides anymore vs the corrupt old guard that made FFP a joke and have WC going to countries who gave the biggest bribes. Is the clubs backing down then us watching a world cup in a year built on the backs of bribes and the deaths of thousands of slaves better than sticking it to these organizations? I dont know, but if Mourinho actually got sacked we can all be… Read more »
I hope they boot us all out of the leagues and ban any players participating from international competition. It has to be made untenable for the clubs to continue. I still love the club but the soul of football is being destroyed by this and replaced by the protectionism and greed that American sports enjoy. It disgusts me and I won’t follow us if we go down this route.
Sir, we – and countless other “clubs” – have been going down this road since.. Abramovich. This isn’t the crossroads you’re looking at – this is a bizarre scenario where I find myself siding with UEFA, one of the most corrupt and reprehensible institutions I can come up with. Even if this goes away, and all things remain the same, football has *still* been all but destroyed by billionaire ownerships and “corporatization”. Remember when Chelsea and Citeh were absolute midtable crap? Yeah, me too. What changed? That change didn’t happen on April 18th, 2021.
I’m not quite as outraged as some others honestly, more resigned. When people talk about the ‘fans’, as far as these clubs are concerned that means TV viewers. Why would they walk away from a zillion dollars. History, tradition… you haven’t been awake if you think that’s not going to happen.
Also, with regard to banning players being picked for England et al. Remember Tony Greig, Packer and the ECB in the 70s. He took the ECB to court and won that not picking him for playing in Kerry Packer’s cricket league was a restraint of trade.
Also… have people forgotten how the Premier League came about. How they shafted the Football League. How just staying in the Premier League (=money) is more desired than a cup. I’m shocked, shocked at the other Premier League team’s attitudes.
Unfortunately I agree that this just seems like the natural progression of the general direction football’s taken in the last 15 or so years.
There should’ve been a lot more financial regulation of clubs and scrutiny of new owners early on but there wasn’t and here we are.
Yep, just the next stage of ‘progression’ starting when jimmy hill scrapped the maximum wage.
Even after Hillsborough, the idea of all seater stadiums was for fan safety, not to shaft them for every penny they’re worth.
Our own David Dein formed the premier league back in 93, maybe if we’d shouted about it then we could’ve stopped it all.
So lets see, I’ve been Arsenal for 50 years… but so what?? Stan says it’s time for a change.
I live in Brixton now, so is it either Crystal Palace ( fuck No!)
…or maybe Dulwich Hamlet FC? Join ‘The Rabble’. At least I could get to the games, when Covid lifts.
Arsenal supporter in Brixton here. I’d recommend Hamlet for the exact reason you mentioned….it’s not a hassle to actually watch a game of football.
Relatively large crowds for a non-league side, good atmosphere and the fact that you can drink pitch side goes some way to make up for the, let’s say inconsistent level of quality.
Cheers!
No worries, always happy to help a fellow south londoner and maybe get Hamlet some much needed income
We’ve had “inconsistent levels of quality” for a while – without the drink. If I wasn’t in Denmark, I’d come. Hell, the drive to Hamburg is only 4 hours. German football has great atmosphere. I happened to be in Berlin a few years ago, walking into a train to get across town, and in poured Bayern München fans from one end, and Borussia Dortmund fans at the other. My girlfriend looked at me as she felt me grab her hand a lot harder suddenly. I thought “oh shit, this will kick off”. It did. But it was singing. High-fives. Banter.… Read more »
That sounds genuinely lovely.
Feels like it’s been a lifetime since I had the “oh shit, this will kick off” feeling. I almost miss it
As another Brixtonite, I can also confirm afternoons at Champion Hill are a refreshing antidote to football at the top of the ladder. Worth reading up on Dulwich’s own struggles in recent years before you make the trip.
Absolutely pointless competing in the Europa league now.
If this happens I am supporting Leeds United. I quite liked their documentary. I don’t want to remember Arsenal at their current state. I want to remember Arsenal as a first love on a lovely afternoon in Highbury (who is now married to someone else, probably some rich corporate bastard).
I thought their documentary was pretty good as well. Leeds Utd are a real “sleeping giant”. A single team representing a major city with a fanatical, supporter base and plans to redevelop their ground. Perhaps non-membership of the proposed ESL will be the cherry on their cake.
I absolutely hate the idea of this. However; if it does go ahead (and it looks as though it will) can we afford not to be part of it?
I feel that we will end up with a league of exhibition matches becoming footballs Harlem Globetrotters.
This reminds me of the Packer situation in cricket many years ago. Players who joined the Packer set up found themseves in an international wilderness. I think it will similarly fizzle out. Ironic though that some of those commenting on various sites were fully supportive of other episodes which have led to this situation. The ‘money before people’ mentality has been around for years. Meanwhile back at the football, I would be more worried that I just don’t find modern football that entertaining anymore.
Stop referring to our first team at Arsenal as part of a club. It’s not. (..and that was the first time in my life I didn’t write “we” about Arsenal, I think) For decades, this “patriotism” and sense of belonging has shovelled billions into the pockets of owners who simply view this as a business. As it is. I’ve always laughed at people who wear sweatshirts with huge logos like “ADIDAS”. “You’re paying 2-3 times the price for a sweatshirt, AND you’re advertising the company for FREE? You utter moron, somewhere in a boardroom, someone is swimming in money, laughing… Read more »
Very well said Odal. I never used to miss a game on the tv, saved up money and flew over to London from Belfast to watch games as I could afford at Highbury, followed the team around the country when I lived in England. Been a proud goober for 35 years. But for the last 10 or so , kids, wife(s), future planning, have joined with a growing dismay at the direction Arsenal and top level football in general have been going to lead to almost disinterest now. Highlights on youtube, match reports here. Haven’t bought a new shirt in… Read more »
I’ve only ever seen Arsenal three times. Who am I to talk. But for me, that took saving and saving, making travel arrangements, taking time off, logistics, planning busses, ferries, hotels, babysitters… it was a pilgrimage. I’m from Denmark. For me, the memory of walking up to Highbury still makes me all tingly. Wearing my Adams “JVC” shirt for three days straight on the journey home. But I know how fortunate I’ve been – I’ve seen my heroes, and their home. Dreams coming true. Those days are over, and the ESL isn’t to blame. But I miss football being special.… Read more »
Bloody hell. This is sinking faster than Titanic.
Think we should all boycott any games left this season. They have treated all supporters very badly, they do not deserve our support
Arteta out Mourinho in! Now!
Assuming you’re not being sarcastic, can you explain the logic behind that?
You’re assuming wrong!
It’s hilarious that yet again Maureen is walking away from a club with his pockets full of money. I wonder which stupid chairman will fall for Maureen’s reputation next? It’s hilarious!
The only ones who make money when clubs sack a manager/coach is … the manager/coach (and their staff, who usually all go with them as in JM’s case). Mind you, Arsenal have shelled out around £20 million to say goodbye to Arsene and Unai so we know the feeling only too well.
True, but at least Arsenal got their 20 million out of Arsene several times over.
I won’t continue supporting arsenal if this happens
That Friday night in May 1989 when we beat Liverpool at Anfield was as magical as any evening a football fan could experience. So, too, was the CL Final 17 years later. We may have lost but everything about that night will be etched in the memory of every fan who was there or who watched it on TV at home. It is these kind of experiences that makes football what it is. This so-called Super League will be the final nail in the coffin and kids today will never experience the joy, the ecstasy as well as the heartache… Read more »
Arsenal disgust me!
I’ve been a fan for seventy years
I congratulate you on your internet skills, oh revered ancestor
I wonder which platform is gonna show the games? Or are they gonna share them between all providers? Cant wait to spend more money on that shit!
Also I don’t think the owners are afraid to lose fanbase in a world of plastic fans. Kids have no loyalty anymore, they go to the flashiest jersey or the awesomest name carried by talented social media teams.
Given the grandiose announcement it seems inevitable. Football is dead, long live football.
I feel bad for the lads. They have no idea what the hell will happen. Will they have the same job next week? Kicked out of PL? Carry on playing? How about EL games? Suddenly pointless? Will they have to sign new contracts, that make them choose between playing for their company, or their country?
No sympathy for them at all. They are greedy twats too, all they care about is their fancy cars and shit haircuts. They never object to anything as long as their ludicrous salaries are being paid. Can you imagine Frank McLintock being quiet if he was captain today?
Come on lads get that podcast out.
How do we take a stand/make an impact? Can we arrange to boycott watching games? And gather all that data online? I’d happily develop a website/platform where unhappy fans can unite somehow. Not sure what the best way is to make an impact as fans but open to requests and can start developing asap.
Not sure what can be done, other than not paying for/subscribing to whatever platforms show these ESL exhibition matches. To be honest, I don’t know who WILL be paying for them, but apparently millions/billions of people, or they wouldn’t have gone this far with the idea. Even if the stadiums are empty, as long as the TV viewers lap it up, they win. The rarity of those CL matches against huge clubs from other countries is a huge part of what makes them special, at least to me. Take that novelty away and they become SO much less meaningful. But… Read more »
I blame this on Abramovich the City Group and Florentino Perez. This was inevitable clubs are no longer profitable all of their revenue is spent on wages and transfers
The problems started waaaay before Abramovich; Jimmy Hill scrapped the maximum wage, all seater stadiums were an excuse to hike up ticket prices, every team having a third kit, but most significant – the formation of the Premier league in 1993 proved clubs had sold their souls – integrity has been long dead in football.