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Writer's pictureElliot Burrow

The not so super, Super League

Updated: Oct 28, 2022

I’ll keep things simple in this piece, because if we go into detail then we could be here for a very long time.


When such an announcement comes out it’s hard not to react and possess an opinion on it, but I won’t be biased though, I’ll look at the negatives and the positives and try to state all the facts and let you lot reading this develop an opinion.


I also just want to say that I’m a big fan of some work that journalists have produced on the back of this announcement.


Non better than the one of Jon Coleman’s who simply summed it up in six words what he thought about it all, and if you haven’t already seen it then I strongly urge you to give it a quick read, and it will be a quick read that’s for sure!


This pandemic hasn’t helped any sporting team, and the idea that the money that the so called top six English clubs get from this will filter down into the lower leagues does excite me in a way.


The idea itself though sounds like a rip-off version of the Champions League, where you’ll play more or less the same team each competition.


Then they’ll still keep their involvement in the Premier League as well of course, well that’s if the league did go ahead, and they weren’t kicked out or anything like that.


So to keep it simple, midweek one of the teams could be facing Real Madrid away and then come the weekend they could play Burnley away, nothing against Burnley of course, just an example because it could be any English Premier League team, and Burnley play miles better football than Real Madrid anyways, we all know that.


Nowadays we have to accept that money talks though, only metaphorically, but everyone wants to be the richest and have the money for nice things, it’s just part of the modern world sadly.


But these clubs are filled with this rich history and to see it all get thrown away because of the silly matter of a bit more money would be a great shame to English game and the footballing world.


In this case though we do get one positive from all of this, it presents these owners as people who clearly have their priorities set out.


The response from players and fans sum up how they feel and Jordan Henderson setting up this meeting with all the captains in the league is a step in the right direction because these players are passionate about their club and usually echo the feelings of the supporters so yet another positive to develop from all of this.


I have to make the point though that something like this happening was never that far off, and was always going to happen at some point in the near future.


There’s also never a right time really to discuss a matter like this, I mean, how would you go about it all if you were them owners phoning up the top dogs at the Premier League offices explaining you want to break off into this Super League competition?


I’m sure that it wouldn’t be met with rounds of applauses that’s for sure.


It’s better now that it’s all out there in the open.


There’s no more rumours, at the minute anyways, and yet another positive from it all was that Jose Mourinho managed to lose his Tottenham job on a much quieter scale compared to some of his recent sackings, cue Paul Pogba and his agent.


Jose will be back somewhere along the line anyways, but this full Super League idea has sent shockwaves through English football, and it could put some clubs in a very precarious situation moving forward.


And the point I haven’t really addressed yet is what is wrong with the system we already have in place?


I think the Europa League and Champions League allow the best teams in Europe to compete already, like the Super League would, so it doesn’t really seem to add any benefits to it, well apart from that little bit more money.


To add to that, Manchester United are currently in the Europa League semi-finals alongside Arsenal, so if we were going to be basing this best teams in Europe competition on facts like that, then you could argue there is better teams out there than the pair of them.


Tottenham didn’t even reach that stage after they got knocked out by Dinamo Zagreb and despite having the history, they have failed to show any signs of an ability to win anything since the Premier League actually started so do they really warrant a place in this?


You could argue that point for every side though, and if the money was right then I’m sure a few more owners would be keen to get involved with the competition, I’m sure my local side Barrow wouldn’t look at of place in it all!


While on the topic of Barrow AFC I think it’s only fair to quickly mention what a brilliant job Rob Kelly has done at the club in caretaker charge.


He’s transformed the side around in what’s been a difficult return to the EFL, especially with no fans being present to cheer them on, and it looks like he’s got the side safe now so, that’s all that any supporter of the club could have asked for at the start of the season and I’m also sure that it’s made one or two Barrovians very happy indeed.


Back to the not so Super, Super League debate though, the football one of course because the rugby league one is fine from my point of view, it might cause me to get confused though when I’m talking about the Super League though, could technically now be rugby or football.


The decision which is best for English football will be made on the matter eventually, and the way that things look at the moment, that doesn’t read well for the ‘top six’ clubs.


We will see in time though, and I can assure you we definitely haven’t heard the end of all this yet, there’s going to be a lot more that’s going to go on over these next few weeks so, if your glued to the topic make sure you keep your eyes peeled.


Anyways, that’s all for this blog piece, I’ll see you in the next one where I’ll preview the build up to the conclusion of horse racing’s jump jockeys’ championship which concludes on Saturday at Sandown Park, will it be the current champ Brian Hughes who comes out on top? Or is the new kid on the block in Harry Skelton going to claim his first title?

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