‘Enjoying the Super League’s new knockout format’: Football reacts as ESL comes crashing down
Football fans celebrated on Tuesday evening as the controversial European Super League was on the verge of crashing down fewer than 48 hours after 12 powerful clubs announced the breakaway venture.
Chelsea and Manchester City became the first clubs to ditch the Super League in the wake of a monstrous backlash against the idea, which proposed ditching Uefa’s Champions League and concentrating money and power within the ‘founding’ members.
The memes soon started up as football fans began revelling in the news that the widely despised Super League format was clearly losing momentum.
European Super League summed up pic.twitter.com/tGVNHXAGhr
— FootballFunnys (@FootballFunnnys) April 20, 2021
I am already looking forward to watching the 2024 HBO series about the 48 hour collapse of the European Super League.
— Clint Smith (@ClintSmithIII) April 20, 2021
If the European Super League was a political party, it would be Change UK – The Independent Group.
— Chris Rose (@ArchRose90) April 20, 2021
Can't believe the Simpsons even predicted how the Super League would turn outpic.twitter.com/nEHKRmq3My
— FootballFunnys (@FootballFunnnys) April 20, 2021
Spurs and Arsenal were on the receiving end of many jokes over the past two days, giving their questionable credentials among Europe’s top clubs, and it appears they will not be living this one down for a while.
Arsenal are going to be out of the Super League even quicker than they tend to be out of the Champions League.
— Jack Whitehall (@jackwhitehall) April 20, 2021
Arsenal: the first and only European Super League champions. pic.twitter.com/cemuy8nhRZ
— Andy Kelly 🌍 (@Gooner_AK) April 20, 2021
There’s a chance that Spurs could be the last team left in the SuperLeague. Daniel Levy claiming they are champions and seen removing the cobwebs in the trophy cabinet
— PriceOfFootball (@KieranMaguire) April 20, 2021
Plenty of players, retired and current, also had their say. Former Chelsea midfielder Pat Nevin, covering their match against Brighton on Tuesday night, told BBC 5Live: "I'm not going to make excuses for Chelsea, they got it wrong.
"But the best thing to do when you realise something is wrong is hold your hand up and get out of it. Chelsea might pat themselves on the back and say 'we've destroyed this'.
"It is so obvious that it is going to fall apart now."
Ex-England captain Gary Lineker posted the simple message: "We've got our ball back."
Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher had also been passionate critics of the Super League and its participant clubs:
To The Super League 🥂 pic.twitter.com/zcHbsJ0DG0
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 20, 2021
#SuperLeague 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/aPvG28agWF
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) April 20, 2021
The existence of the Super League was shorter than Perez wanted the games to be. Well played football community
— Didi Hamann (@DietmarHamann) April 20, 2021
“Fan pressure is massive.” 👏
“I can’t remember the country being this united. Nobody wanted this to happen.”
Danny Mills salutes fan pressure and it’s role in shutting down the Super League. pic.twitter.com/MCPI0daSRP— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) April 20, 2021
Football is nothing without fans pic.twitter.com/6AbGH1jHLA
— Jack Grealish (@JackGrealish) April 20, 2021
Where there is people there is power 👏🏽
— Patrick van Aanholt (@pvanaanholt) April 20, 2021
And Henry Mance, chief features writer at the Financial Times, captured the mood on Tuesday night perfectly as the world watch club after club tumble out of the Super League’s grasp. “‘Enjoying the Super League’s new knockout format,” he tweeted.
enjoying the Super League’s new knockout format
— Henry Mance (@henrymance) April 20, 2021
There wasn’t much love lost for Ed Woodward, the Manchester United executive at the heart of the Super League plans who accelerated the announcement of his retirement on Tuesday night in the wake of the debacle.
The Manchester Evening News said Woodward would stay in his role until the end of the year despite offering his resignation.
United have been one of the leading clubs involved in the breakaway project and Woodward was singled out for criticism by the head of European football’s governing body Aleksander Ceferin, who described him as a “snake”.
See #mufc glazers have made Woodward fall on his sword ...#europesuperleague
Gotta say this guys that own these clubs are pretty much cowardly little weasels— Simon Jordan (@Sjopinion10) April 20, 2021
👋
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) April 20, 2021
And there were even some revellers on the streets too. Chelsea fans who had turned up at Stamford Bridge for tonight’s game with Brighton transformed their vitriol into joy, singing and dancing outside the stadium.
We saved football #NoToEuropeanSuperLeague pic.twitter.com/kVhUMiOp07
— Riyad.dilhan (@RiyadDilhan) April 20, 2021
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