Morning!
Nearly time for Christmas! Last day at work for most of us. Hats off to all those who will be working over the next 7-days – your retail and hospitality workers, delivery drivers, etc. These unsung heroes do not get the credit they deserve whilst we are all sitting enjoying a few days or weeks off.
Yesterday there were two bits of news that sort of connect – February TV games announced and the new European Super League proposal.
Three of our February Premier League fixtures have been moved:
- Liverpool at home will now Sunday, 4 February , 4.30pm kick-off.
- West Ham United away has been moved to a Sunday, 11 February, kicking off at 2pm.
- Lastly, Newcastle United at the Emirates will be at 8pm on Saturday, 24 February 24.
Now from an Arsenal fans point of view, I am relieved ,sort of.
The long away trip to Burnley remains at 3pm and West Ham at 2pm on a Sunday is decent. The Newcastle game is the only one at an awkward kick off time – but it is a lot worse for Newcastle fans.
And that is my main issue. Kick off times affect all traveling fans – both those traveling from Newcastle and those Arsenal fans that commute in. 8pm on a Saturday is just designed for greed to maximise overseas TV revenue. The 8pm kick off is basically to satisfy our little cousins across the pond.
The last train back for Newcastle fans from London is at 21:00 – just as the second half is kicking off. There is a slightly later (and much longer) train that leaves London at 22:05 and involves a change. This will get them back to Newcastle at 3:20; and they would need to leave at half time to get to Kings Cross in time.
All the bluster from Sky Sports, BT (now TNT) and the Premier League about how they were “standing up for match going fans” back in 2021 when the European Super League last reared its ugly head was just posturing. Neville, Carragher, et al have always turned a blind eye to how match going fans are treated by the company they work for (and yes, I know this game is on TNT. Sky would have a 10pm kick off if they were allowed).
The TV companies do not care about match going fans. They only care about profits.
It will be interesting to see their response to the latest European Super League proposals – also announced yesterday.
My bet is they come out and say “fans have already made it clear that they do not want the European Super League”, ignoring the fact that we have also all made it clear previously that we do not want games with no trains home.
The revamped Super League is as posterous as the one proposed back in 2021.
The investment group behind it have this time attempted to make it seem “more inclusive” by having “promotion and relegation” and including a women’s competition.
The promotion and relegation aspect makes it appear that it will create a “fair opportunity” for teams to qualify, with 20 teams in the “Blue League” (the bottom of pyramid) getting relegated. But this is not the case.
Just 2 out of 16 teams in the “Star League” get relegated to the “Gold League”, and only 2 teams from that leafgue drop down into the bottom Blue League.
So whilst with the Champions League, you could, in theory, have 32 different teams in it each year, you can only have 2 different teams in the Star League from the previous year. It is clearly a ploy to protect the interests of those in the Star League by protecting them with a very low chance of relegation. The turnover of teams will be at the bottom end.
You will also only be promoted into the Blue League if a team from your domestic league gets relegated.
So Aston Villa this season could finish top 4. That will see them qualify for the Champions League. But finishing top 4 would not see them qualify for the European Super League unless an English team finishes in the bottom reaches of the Blue League, which will be highly unlikely.
The criticism of the previous European Super League was it was a closed shop. This incarnation allows others into the basement of the shop, but the big boys are still playing with each other upstairs.
A22 (the investment group behind the European Super League) have also tried to bribe fans by saying “fans would also be able to watch live matches for free on a new digital streaming platform.”
Most fans will see through this and know it will be temporary until they have “bought the market”. It is basically like the “one-year free trail” The Athletic gave out (and many other companies), and then once they decide the free period is over the prices are hiked up.
And even if it was free for life, I would not want it. And it just highlights again that the European Super League is for the TV fans, not the match going fans.
A simply solution for the Premier League, FA, UEFA and FIFA is to make it very clear:
- Clubs – If you enter the European Super League, you are excluded from all domestic, UEFA and FIFA competitions.
- Players – If you play for a team in the European Super League, you are banned from representing your country.
This will throw the European Super League into chaos as they are trying to “work with domestic leagues” by having promotion and relegation from domestic leagues. If those teams involved no longer play in domestic competition, it will get stale quickly.
At the time of writing, teams are already distancing themselves from the European Super League – Manchester United and Atletico Madrid the two biggest, as well as the Bundesliga as a collective.
Considering PSG refused to get involved in the last version, and English teams would likely be unable to participate under if new legislation is passed in 2024, the potential available particpating teams is quickly shrinking.
Real Madrid and Barcelona will allows push for it. The pair have overspent their way to glory in the last 30 years and are now paying for it. They are both poorly run clubs who in the past have relied on “state aid” to balance their books.
Juventus are another team who are pushing for the European Super League. Juventus were considered to be the leading club in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal, alongside AC Milan (another Italian club pushing for the formation of the Super League).
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AC Milan all blame the Premier League for their huge debt. The reality is they all owe so much because their spending went unregulated and they backed that their countries will bail them out
(note: most of the Premier League sides debt in the table above is associated with stadium and training ground redevelopments, whilst the European sides is mainly money owed in transfers and due to overpaying wages for decades. Debt not secured against an asset.)
Decades of mismanagement and corruption is now catching up with a lot of teams on the continent. It is their fault they are all in such a bad financial situation, not the fault of the Premier League.
If Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona continue to push for the Super League, they will probably find themselves joined by Russian and Turkish teams, maybe Portuguese, as well as others from Eastern Europe. Will there really be any interest in 16 teams playing each other if it excludes English, French and German (I imagine the Dutch will also side with their fellow Central Europeans)? No.
Yes, the Champions League would suffer, but the domestic leagues would thrive in the absence of a top teams in Serie A and La Liga no longer playing each other. These leagues would very quickly die off.
The European Super League is clearly a bad idea. The only silver lining is it sounds like UEFA are scrapping their plans for a revamped Champions League.
My final thought is back in England, and a comment I made earlier.
Sky, TNT Sports, the Premier League do not stick up for match going fans. They only care for their own interests. And having Newcastle fans travel to London for an 8pm Saturday kick off highlights this!
Liverpool tomorrow….
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 