The year is 2026 and the European Super League is nearing the close of its fifth season since it was introduced way back in 2021...
In the Premier League, Everton are leading the way for the title, whilst Leeds, Leicester and surprise package Bournemouth are fighting it out for the remaining Champions League places. Watford have already qualified for the Europa League after beating Mark Noble's West Ham in the Burger King Cup final (formerly Carabao Cup). Aston Villa and England striker Tammy Abraham looks set to win the golden boot for a second year running with his nearest competitor Joelinton out injured for the rest of the season.
The recent breaking news is the announcement from League 1 which has joined League 2 in a disappointing switch back to amateur status. All fixtures are set to be played on Sundays so that players, who no longer receive wages for their footballing endeavours, can work in their day jobs midweek. Saturdays are for training.
Delving deep into the depths of obscurity, an update from the European Super League is that attendance is at an all time high, with some stadiums filling up to 25% of their capacity. The Bernabeu Stadium was apparently "rocking like the old days" according to Florentino Perez as 13,000 people watched Real Madrid beat Chelsea 1 - 0. It appears the widespread boycott on the ESL is slowly beginning to ease, however there are rumours some spectators are being paid to watch matches in a bid to kickstart the woefully unsuccessful competition.
Arsenal's unbelievable streak continues. Many fans have referenced the Invincible season of 2004 in what is an incredible run. They have now gone two seasons without a win in the European Super League, losing 4-0 to AC Milan most recently. Fortunately it doesn't matter, because relegation is not a factor.
Bayern Munich have won the Champions League for the third year in a row and a fifth in just six years. After they rejected their invitation to the ESL, Bayern have dominated the German and European scene. The only year they failed to win was 2022 when Steven Gerrard's Rangers shocked the world to win 2-1 against Bayern in the final.
The World Cup this Summer, held in the USA, Canada and Mexico, is set to be another huge disappointment as the omission of big names who play in the Super League continues. Second rate national teams playing in front of half capacity crowds unfortunately doesn't have the same appeal as the pre-Super League days. The infamous 2022 World Cup does no favours to the reputation of FIFA. Following the boycott of national teams to the competition, the trophy was handed to Qatar, in honour of their "hard work and noble efforts" of preparing the country for the World Cup...
In a recent UK wide survey, it was found rugby has overtaken football as the most popular sport. Football's downward spiral since 2021 looks set to continue as Sky and BT announced it was no longer economically viable for them to show ESL fixtures as ratings were incredibly low.
Finally, it appears that Barcelona will finish top of the European Super League this year, with Juventus, Real Madrid and Wayne Rooney's Manchester United making up the rest of the top four who will go into the playoffs for the mighty J.P. Morgan trophy. It is every child's dream to lift that trophy.
Quite obviously, everything I have stated above is probably an exaggeration. If the proposed plans do go ahead, football will move on - damaged as it may be. The commercialisation of football has gone too far, we have been blinded by the increasing power of owners and executives at clubs as they have masked it with the huge transfer fees for average players, which are heralded as 'great' by the loyal and unsuspecting fans. The signs were all there that there was an overload in power, but hindsight is a wonderful thing and now it is too late.
I preferred to write a hypothetical and parodic piece as opposed to ranting about the flaws of the proposals because there is no way I could sum it up better than the coverage that already exists. My perspective wouldn't add anything new because in this instance there is only one viable perspective to have on this matter. The word 'disgraceful' is already being overused I mean seriously pick up a thesaurus. Egregious.
But Gary Neville epitomised the mood perfectly and if you haven't seen his rant on Sky Sports from yesterday, you probably should.
As he claims himself, as have many others, it is unlikely for the ESL to go ahead as it is planned to this August. Particularly with the backlash that it is has faced so far, it would be inhumane to continue, which means it will be a nice test to see whether these owners and executives do have emotions and empathy, or whether they only see money, money and money. So far they are failing magnificently.
Created by the poor, destroyed by the rich. Oh and if things don't change I will be looking for a new football team to support since I don't want to be referred to as a "legacy fan" by Manchester United. It's insulting. Any recommendations for teams to support then just let me know...
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