European Super League: It's Not Dead Yet

So the European Super League saga is back again. This time they have included relegation and promotion and a built-in, tiered league system to claim that success will be based on "sporting merit". Personally I do not see a problem with the current system whereby the best teams in each domestic league already meet to play each other in a "Champions League" formerly the European Cup.

So we know from the video that was released how the new ESL would be structured; top tier is the "Star" league with 16 clubs, second tier is "Gold" league with another 16 clubs, then the bottom tier is "Blue" league with 32. Each team plays the other two times and then they go into a play-off style knockout. How very American. They have included relegation and promotion in that the bottom two teams from each tier are knocked down and the winners of the play-off finals in the "Gold" and "Blue" league will be promoted. So you could theoretically come top of the "league" section of the format and still not be promoted via the play-offs? Maybe it's hard for me to accept this concept because I've been conditioned by years of what European football is currently, in that when you win the league in a lower tier, you automatically get promoted, no play-off needed.

It all just stinks, once again, of the richest clubs not being satisfied with an already substantial slice of the pie, but wanting their own pie all to themselves, but they'll let you have a bit of it if they think you're worthy. It's a bit of a slap in the face to football's roots.

Fans of clubs across Europe have already told the owners of the original twelve clubs they do not want to be associated with anything to do with the ESL. They can try and placate fans all they want with the "it'll be free for the fans to watch" line. We don't want it.

Clubs already fight like mad every year to get into the existing competition, which this ESL would look to supersede, so what would be the point?

As an Everton fans, we've already seen our own European club competition win made somewhat redundant with the European Cup Winners' Cup being discontinued in favour of the UEFA Cup, now Europa League.

Are Real Madrid that bored of the shape of the Champions League trophy in their cabinet that they're making up their own tournament now? Entitled elitism at it's finest.

I don't have a lot more to say on it at the moment as I can guarantee we haven't heard all the facts yet. I'll be sure to add to this as more comes out but it can already do one.

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