Last week, the “revolting” clubs led by Seville suddenly stepped back, and the Big Two got what they wanted as usual for the new deal that will come into place for 2015. But as the journalist Sid Lowe asked last week, why did they relent? What was the worst that could happen by upsetting Real Madrid and Barcleona?
That Madrid and Barcelona threaten to leave? Where to? The time is not yet right for a European Super League and when it is Madrid and Barcelona will go anyway. Besides the “go and find another league then, I dare you” argument was exactly the one used by the other clubs. Madrid and Barcelona’s bluff could have been called. It wasn’t.
The opposite may be the case in England. A collective deal is agreed because the big clubs, who could make so much more, believe it fairer to allow some form of competition and parity, though the riches of the Champions League make this competition pretty irrelevant. Manchester United made £60m from television last year, but could make so much more with an individual deal. It’s just as well Alex Ferguson thinks TV companies are the spawn of Satan (I’ve paraphrased a bit).
But will the Financial Fair Play rules change the clubs’ viewpoint? As mentioned previously, clubs will look to increase revenue wherever possible, and a European Super League would certainly do that. If a team such as Manchester United were only playing the likes of Juventus, the Milan teams, Real Madrid etc, then the revenue would be much higher considering some of the rather moribund league matches that spring up on a weekly basis. It would maintain the status quo, keeping the success and power with the giants of European football.
And yet – the current system has pretty much maintained the status quo anyway. The Financial Fair Play rules will stop the likes of a newly-owned Manchester City being allowed to spend as much as Real Madrid or Barcelona in the future. Leaving a domestic league is a big step, a step away from tradition and over 100 years of history. And would it popular with fans? As a Manchester City fan, I’ve no desire whatsoever to see a European Super League – the Champions League is good enough to test the team against the best, imperfect as it is. Games depend on atmosphere from away fans for part of the experience of attending matches, and how many fans are going to trek across Europe every 2 weeks? It will no longer be the working man’s game.
Talk of a European Super League has been around for well over a decade now. I have read repeatedly down the years that it is bound to happen, that it is imminent even. To this day, respected people in the game are still making these claims. But it is a huge step to take to leave behind domestic leagues, and perhaps the more likely outcome would be a league as suggested by Perez, that runs in conjunction with the domestic leagues. More likely is that talks of breakaway leagues will be used just as they alaways have done – a bargaining tool for the big clubs, to be used as a threat if they don’t get their own way. But just maybe the Financial Fair Play rules will cause the idea to twinkle once more in the minds of the odd club President and CEO.
Written by Howard Hockin for FootballFanCast.com
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