Banners are placed outside of Anfield, home of Liverpool, to protest against the club's decision to be included in the European Super League. Photo: VCG

The European Super League, the four little words turned European football on its head for 48 hours and nowhere more so than England where six of the 12 initial signatories for the proposal call home, for now at least.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea were the guilty parties in a move that rocked the game to its core with fans, governing bodies, the other clubs and players speaking out against the proposition of a closed shop for the biggest clubs on the continent.

None of the stakeholders have been more vocal than the players-turned-pundits, with former Manchester United boss Gary Neville leading the charge.

"The proposal will get kicked out because the fans will hate it, the governments will hate it, FIFA will hate, UEFA will hate it, the Premier League have come out already and say they hate it, you'll hate it, I'll hate it," he said on the Gary Neville Podcast.

"And they are so disconnected from reality to think they could put this forward at any time, let alone now. Honesty, I'd say I've got no words for them but I've had a lot of words.

"It won't go through, not a chance.

He was right in the end, with the whole thing falling apart less than 48 hours after it was announced. First Chelsea and then Manchester City got cold feet, something Neville had predicted elsewhere.

Ashamed

No matter, the one-club man was certain enough of his feelings that he called for United to be docked points and spoke of his deep shame at the club he made 400 appearances for.

"But I'm ashamed of them, absolutely ashamed - for two reasons," he said. 

"Firstly, that they would want to sign up to a competition that is franchise football essentially, with no promotion or relegation, almost like that right to play the biggest games all the time - that's not the ethic and ethos Manchester United was built on.

"Forget the owners. They have nothing to do with this football club. They're just custodians," Neville said of the owning Glazer family, the US owners of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who took over control at Old Trafford in a much protested purchase in 2005.

Joel Glazer is named as the vice-president of the Super League and United are understood to be leading the way among the English clubs.

Neville dismissed the Glazers in the grander history of the club, but claimed they had let down its traditions.

"I'm fuming that Manchester United have been pioneers, that should be leading from the front, that should be looking after everyone in this country. National League, North and South clubs are in disarray, National League clubs are going bust and furloughing players. There are League Two clubs on the edge. The whole system and pyramid at this moment is struggling.

"And the timing is my second point. So United as a football club to vote for this is disgusting. The timing of it, the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of an economic crisis, not just in football but in this world, to demonstrate greed rather than compassion is an absolute shocker.

"And I've been critical of the people at this football club over the past few years for some of their football decisions, but this is another level. And you can put all the other five owners in the same box as far as I'm concerned."

"Liverpool? The club of the people? You're shambles. Just like Manchester United are, you're all the same. You'll never walk alone and all that rubbish we listen to? And the stuff here about looking after things? Honestly, I'm absolutely livid. The timing is as bad as the proposal."

Fans fly a plane banner which reads "Say No to Super League" on Monday. Photo: IC

People to blame 

Neville's fellow pundit, the former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher, was in the studio alongside him for the game between Liverpool and Leeds United on Monday night. Carragher did not mince his words.

He pointed at the owners of the clubs, not the clubs themselves.

"This is not Liverpool, Man United, Chelsea, Spurs, Arsenal, Man City involved, this is John Henry and FSG, this is the Glazers, this is Roman Abramovich, Sheikh Mansour, Stan Kroenke, Daniel Levy - these are the people to blame for this," Carragher said.

"What they're doing right now is dragging institutions we've seen in this country for over 100 years basically through the mud, burning the history of what those clubs are about because from your own club's point of view, the only reason Liverpool are in this or have a chance of being in the Super League is because they've won six European Cups or 20 league titles, only one each came under FSG.

"So, they've used what Liverpool have done in their history, going back to Bill Shankly and even before that, to get into some league and line their own pockets.

"The biggest thing for me is certainly the football world in terms of everyone being against it tonight. Juergen Klopp has spoken on this in 2019 and made his stance very clear, if Liverpool moves their manager on the back of this in the next 12 months or so, those owners will be run out of that club in a week, I can assure you of that.

"This ownership bought the club on the back of other American owners running the club badly and the fans got them out. They got the club for a steal and it's now worth six or seven times more, they've made their money, they've won the lottery with Liverpool."

If Neville and Carragher can put aside their differences then there's hope for the rest of the football world in their fight against The Super League - and it will come around again.