Thank you for the camaraderie ESL…
Apparently, Eric Cantona once said “You can change your wife, your religion, but never can you change your football team” a quote that I had believed until I heard the news about the proposed European Super League. For the first time ever I felt uncomfortable supporting my club Manchester United…(Even worse than being a nine-year-old watching them get thrashed 5–0 in a Chelsea supporting West London pub…thanks a lot Massimo Taibi).
I wasn't the only one in disbelief, fans up and down the country were disgusted at the news of the Greedy six joining the new competition; fans were willing to turn their backs on the clubs. All around the world people were letting others know how wrong it was, from Prince William to American Comedian Judd Apatow it seemed the whole world was on our side.
Gary Neville immediately took the role of spokesman for football fans as the news broke during Manchester United’s game against Burnley. Neville’s words were so clear and passionate that even the most ardent Liverpool supporting Scouser couldn’t help but nod in agreement as he verbally destroyed their clubs' greedy actions.
Fans from all clubs were set up to take to the picket lines, brothers in arms yet something was different. Why wasn’t the protest seen in this circumstance the same as other recent protests? not a word of rabble-rousing, hooligans or worse yet Snowflakerey? I say this because as of recent anyone who takes a stand for the greater good gets branded as one of the above.
Upon hearing the news it was easy for me to know which side I was on, being passionate about these kinds of issues comes naturally to me. I am a political person with a penchant for speaking my mind. I like sticking up for the little guy, however, this time it felt different, I have to admit It felt exciting. The Celebrity pundits issuing battle cries, seeing mates who say they hate politics take up hardline positions and the feeling of people coming together against something. Made me ask myself…Why couldn't people be this passionate outside of football?
The voice inside my head was thinking why didn't the billionaires who were creating the European super league have friends who owned news outlets like Fox, the Daily Mail or The Sun. There would have been hatchet news stories out immediately. Gary Neville secretly drowns puppies would have been the headline or Neville is a stooge for foreign interests. Online Twitter bots would be calling anyone cheering for Neville backwards or cultist all because they were fighting injustice. You may think I'm exaggerating but if you supported the last guy to try and increase spending for the little guy you might have met some of the same responses. My guess is that the owners of these clubs do have media contacts but arrogantly did not think it was necessary to run a campaign.
Many fans proclaimed that the Bayern Munich model was the only way to save their clubs from vulture capitalist billionaires. Bayern like the rest of the teams in the Bundesliga are governed by the 50 + 1 rule, therefore, clubs cannot play in the German League if a commercial investor owns more than 49% of a club. This has resulted in the German league having the lowest-priced match tickets, highest attendances and strong ties between fans and club. This also got me thinking if people are so keen to save the football industry with the above concept why not try it outside of football? Then it came to me, this is a left-wing concept.
Fan/worker ownership is a form of left-wing thinking. Not in the sense of Ryan Giggs left-wing but left in the sense of political economy. You know when you see that bloke criticise the BBC for being “Lefty woke nonsense” this is the kind of stuff he is belittling even though he may not suspect it. The trouble is if you ask someone like the chap above to define left-wing they cannot, in fact, ask them to define right-wing and they won't be able to. We have got to a point where people use phrases without knowing what they mean. To summarise left and right wings are the opposite ends of the political-economy scale. The Left-wing believes in Big State, Regulations and workers having more power. The Right believes in Small State, Deregulation and allowing the free market to dictate. I shan't bother going all Karl Marx and Adam Smith on you don't worry. The point I'm making is that for too long in this country people believe the left to be inept yet when football is at risk it is this concept that we turn to. When the bankers went bump it was the state that bailed them out, how can socialism be so bad if it's what we turn to every now and again?
After the Man Utd v Burnley game, I wrote on Facebook and Twitter “Gary Neville for PM” numerous replies implied they were all for Prime Minister Nev. Some of these people who I respect and regard as friends identify as conservatives. They would have voted for Boris Johnson at the last election, they probably don't think there is anything wrong with Boris Johnson and James Dyson texting about lowering the tax rate favourably for Dyson. They cannot see the irony of a small group of people looking after their own interest over everyone else. You might have heard some of these people say that the way David Cameron has acted in the lobbying scandal is fine because that's what you do, you look after your mates with cheeky deals here and there. I could moan on here all day about the irony of it all I really could but at the end of the day it's not the peoples' fault for thinking this way.
The media in this country is very quick to play down scandal amongst our government. The last Labour leader was given a bigger wrap sheet of offences by the media than Charlie Bronson has had time added on to his sentence. Today as I type this there is a murmuring of the Acuri, Cameron and Dyson scandal in the press but the biggest story is that of the European Super League, a competition that all English teams have pulled out of and looks to be dead in the water. However, it is still the news story conveniently making the most noise.
I’m truly glad that the ESL has flopped I admit though I will miss the camaraderie I felt over the last few days with the lads who arent usually political or see me as a bit of a “Lefty Snowflake”. If you ever feel as passionate about injustice again I will gladly stand at your side. Since Sunday It felt like everyone got the bigger picture without having to navigate smear and spin campaigns and that is so bloody refreshing for someone who often finds themselves clearing up fake news posts online. Sanctions, regulations and people power beat the ESL and its greed, here is to hoping the same can be said about other injustices in the future.