Talk of a European Super League (or ‘ESL’) has been around since the 1980s, with many top football leagues in Europe afraid of such a competition forming.
And in March 2021, those feelings were seemingly realised, when 12 clubs – including the six wealthiest Premier League clubs – committed the ultimate act of betrayal, agreeing in principle to join a new ESL.
Although the project would unravel practically overnight, talk of an ESL continues to be heard even now. In spite of the talk, there is still no definitive idea of what such a competition would look like, but here we will revisit a seismic moment in European football, before analysing the pros and cons of such a project.
Contents
What is a European Super League?
The UEFA Champions League, in its current incarnation, is the closest thing to an ESL at the moment, having only this year expanded to encompass more teams and revert from a group stage to a single league system. When it was rebranded in 1992 from the original European Cup, it was felt that the competition would overshadow and potentially cause the end of domestic football as it is known.
While that didn’t happen, plans for an ESL were revealed in 2018, when Germany’s Der Spiegel reported uncovered documents from Football Leaks outlining the competition. The idea was for the top European football clubs to break away from UEFA and start their own competition. The report by Der Spiegel sent shockwaves through football, with clubs afraid they wouldn’t be a part of the competition and fans feeling that another tournament would be too much in the landscape of football.
Plans outlined by Der Spiegel claimed a 16-team tournament would begin as early as 2021. The competition would be similar to the Champions League, except UEFA would play no part in the ESL. Similarly to the Champions League, teams would play in a group stage followed by knockout rounds.
The format of the competition would favour some of the strongest, biggest clubs in European football. Of the 16 teams contesting the competition, 11 would be labelled as “core founding” clubs. These 11 clubs would be guaranteed their places in the Super League for 20 years. The clubs would be “immune to relegation”. The other five places would be made up of teams that could be ‘relegated’ from the competition.
Which teams would play in the European Super League?
In the documents uncovered by Der Spiegel, a who’s who list of teams were identified as founding members, looking very much like a typical Pot 1 lineup from any modern day Champions League draw. Those clubs included Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus, AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich. It is a list that features 11 of the most historic and currently, strongest clubs financially in the world.
According to the document, the five guest clubs in the competition would be Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, Marseille, and Roma. The rotating guest teams could change from year to year, as a secondary competition would be set up to provide promotion and relegation to those rotating clubs. In essence, the secondary competition would be similar to a second division league akin to the Premier League and the EFL Championship.
It is the calibre of these teams that would arguably be any ESL competition’s greatest strength, as reflected by the first pro point in our grand debate…
What are the main pros of a European Super League?
Bigger games more often
An ESL would include the biggest and best teams in European football, and so, in a league format, these titan clashes would happen more frequently. It would be interesting to see who would come out on top between the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City, for example, given that they never get to play each other domestically and may only meet in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) once every few years.
Big money potential
The clashes between the biggest and best teams are the ones that the majority of fans want to watch. And so, seeing them happen every month instead of once in a few years offers plenty of avenues to generate big revenue for the clubs and players participating. It would also increase revenue for broadcasters, sponsors, and stakeholders in the game.
More domestic winners
An ESL would be a high priority for some of football's elite clubs, and if they were to break off from their respective domestic leagues, we could see a refreshing set of new domestic winners. For example, should the Premier League's so-called ‘big six' break away to the ESL that was initially planned, then the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle United and co could win the league title for the first time in a number of decades, writing new history for them and appeasing their silverware-starved fans.
Provides extra motivation to perform well and gain recognition
The original ESL proposal had 11 ‘legacy' teams that would remain in the competition regardless of their performance. However, five additional places for the best-performing teams in European competition each season are up for grabs. In truth, every team should be able to participate on merit, but at least there is some form of motivation to perform well.
However, it’s still a very exclusive competition in theory, and that brings us on to the first of several negative points when it comes to debating the ESL…
Cons of a European Super League
No more promotion or relegation
One of the features of the ESL that caused the most anger in 2021 was the lack of promotion or relegation, and the feeling that elite clubs were pulling up the drawbridge.
Promotion and relegation are a key part of European football, with clubs rewarded for poor or strong performances with a step up or down the football pyramid.
In the Premier League, for example, the relegation battle is often regarded as just as absorbing as the title race, as clubs give everything to try and keep their top-flight status. The drama often goes down to the very last minute of the season.
A closed shop
The hope of promotion is also the dream of many clubs in the lower leagues, as they seek to emulate the successes of fairytale promotion stories. Prime examples there include Leicester City’s rise from League One to become 2015/16 Premier League champions in the space of just eight years – or Union Berlin’s dizzying ascent to the 2023/24 Champions League from relative obscurity.
And so, while the biggest clubs in Europe may claim that playing each other in the ESL would increase revenue amongst themselves, the problem with the biggest clubs playing multiple times a season is that fans will become jaded to the matches.
Supporters left behind
Something else that distinguishes European football from the uber-commercialised sports played in the USA is each club's distinct identity and sense of place. Many clubs were formed by workers over a century ago or grew out of community sports clubs, and though many have changed a great deal since very few have moved more than a few miles from their birthplace.
Clubs forgetting their roots
For many reasons, match-going supporters are not as key as they once were to clubs’ finances, but there is a consensus that the sport still ‘belongs’ to them and is powered by their support and love. In the format proposed by those Football Leaks revelations, the ESL would surely represent the final nail in the coffin for fans’ involvement with their clubs, as teams sold out to commercial interests and abandoned what made them special to their supporters in the first place.
This would ultimately render clubs as pure businesses rather than representatives of a community or area.
Will a European Super League be established?
Well, the short answer is no. Back in March 2021, when six Premier League clubs agreed to break away and become founder members of the new ESL, the backlash from fans of both ‘member’ clubs and non-members was significant. That year’s Champions League finalists-to-be, Chelsea and Man City, were the first two clubs to make a U-turn on their decision to leave the UCL in favour of the ESL, following the adverse reaction of their own fans and the football community across the country.
Soon after Chelsea and Man City decided to withdraw from the ESL, rumours spread that both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid wanted to back out as well, while Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool's owners all appeared to be waiting to make any announcements themselves until the New York Stock Exchange closed. As expected, Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs all released statements saying that they were withdrawing from the ESL.
All of the remaining 14 Premier League clubs that weren't invited to join the ESL were less than impressed by the so-called ‘Big 6' deciding to break away without consulting them or considering the effects on the entire football pyramid. Everton, who were founder members of the original Football League in 1888, stepped up first to call out the six English clubs of the ESL. Others who were part of that original 1888/89 lineup – Aston Villa, Burnley, West Brom and Wolves – joined the Toffees in showing their contempt for this turn of affairs.
Three and a half years on, all we know for certain is that club owners can't make life-altering decisions regarding their clubs without consulting the fans, and knowing they have the vast majority of the fans’ support. Trying to sneak into an ESL, and hoping that the negative reaction will disappear over time is simply naive, has been proven an impossibility. Money talks though, and the spectre of major change in the landscape of European football will always exist after the events of March 2021.
