GARY NEVILLE called for Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal to be RELEGATED and have their titles stripped as plans for a breakaway to a European Super League emerged.
The Red Devils legend let rip on Sky Sports slamming the ‘criminal’ behaviour of the clubs and demanding serious punishment ahead of the clubs’ official statement of intent, which was released on Sunday night.
Neville blasted the owners of the Big Six, labelling them ‘impostors’ and ‘bottle merchants’ and called for them all to have points deducted this season, incur large fines and have honours wiped the moment they announced the plan.
The Premier League’s top sides signed up to the rebel move less than 24 hours before Uefa were due to release its own planned revamp of the Champions League and could earn up to £310million as an initial ‘golden hello’ plus a minimum £130m each season from their share of a £4.6billion total pot.
The plans, pushed by Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and AC Milan, are backed by the financial muscle of US investment giant JP Morgan.
After coverage of United’s 3-1 win over Burnley at Old Trafford, Neville said: “If they announce a letter of intent has been signed they should be punished heavily.
“Massive fines, points deductions, take the titles off them – who cares? Give the title to Burnley, Fulham. Let Fulham stay up.
Relegate United, Liverpool and Arsenal because those three clubs are the history of this country they should be the ones to suffer most.”
Gary Neville
How European Super League would work?
THE European Super League will be made up of fifteen ‘founder members’ – starting with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, United, City and Spurs from England, with Atletico and Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and PSG are likely to complete the list founders, who cannot be relegated.
Five extra teams will be invited to compete each year with a provisional kick-off from the start of the 2022-23 season.
Teams will be split into two groups of ten and play nine opponents home and away in a midweek league, with the top four from each group qualifying for end of season play-offs.
United and Liverpool will bag up to £310m up front. The other four Prem teams would each get £200m.
Total £4.6billion pot, initially backed by JP Morgan will mean a minimum £130m each year even if one of the ‘founders’ loses EVERY game.
Overall winners could earn up to £212m extra if they win every game.
“Relegate United, Liverpool and Arsenal because those three clubs are the history of this country they should be the ones to suffer most.
“Deduct them all points tomorrow – put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them.
“Seriously you have got to stamp on this, it’s criminal. It is a criminal act against football fans in this country.
“Make no mistake about it. This is the biggest sport in the world, in this country and it’s a criminal act against the fans, simple as that.
“They are bottle merchants, you never hear from the owners of these clubs. They are absolute bottle merchants – they’ve got no voice.
“And they’ll probably hide in a few weeks and say it was nothing to do with them and they were only talking about it.
“It’s pure greed. They are impostors. They are impostors. The owners of this club [United], the owners of Liverpool, the owners of Chelsea, the owners of Manchester City are nothing to do with football in this country.”
FULL GARY NEVILLE RANT
“WELL the reaction to it is that it’s been damned. And rightly so.
“I mean I am a Manchester United fan and have been for 40 years of my life but I’m disgusted, absolutely disgusted.
“I’m disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool most. I mean Liverpool they pretend you know – ‘You’ll never walk alone’, the people’s club, the fan’s club.
“Manchester United 100 years born out of workers around here (Old Trafford). And they are breaking away into a league without competition, that they can’t be relegated from. It’s an absolute disgrace.
“Honestly, we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league and that includes my club. And I’ve been calling for 12 months as part of another group for an independent regulator to bring checks and balances in place to stop this happening.
“It’s pure greed. They are impostors. They are impostors. The owners of this club, the owners of Liverpool, the owners of Chelsea, the owners of Manchester City are nothing to do with football in this country.
“There’s 100-odd years of history in this country from fans that have lived and loved these clubs. And they need protecting, the fans need protecting.
“I’ve benefitted from football hugely, I’ve made money out of football, I invest money into a football club. Now, I’m not against money in football. But the principles and ethos of fair competition and the rights to play the game – so Leicester win the league and they go into the Champions League.
“Manchester United aren’t even in the Champions League! Arsenal aren’t even in the Champions League, watched them earlier on today, they are an absolute shambles of a football club at the moment. Tottenham aren’t in the Champions League. And they want a God-given right to be in there.
“They’re an absolute joke and honestly the time has come now, independent regulator, stop these clubs having the power base. Enough is enough.
“You know what the motivation is, greed. My reaction earlier on wasn’t an emotional reaction. Deduct them all points tomorrow – put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them.
“Seriously you have got to stamp on this, it’s criminal. It is a criminal act against football fans in this country. Make no mistake about it. This is the biggest sport in the world, in this country and it’s a criminal act against the fans, simple as that. Deduct points, deduct their money and punish them.
“They are bottle merchants, you never hear from the owners of these clubs. They are absolute bottle merchants – they’ve got no voice. And they’ll probably hide in a few weeks and say it was nothing to do with them and they were only talking about it.
“Seriously, in the midst of a pandemic, an economic crisis. Football clubs at National League level going bust nearly, furloughing players. Clubs on the edge in League One and Two and these lot are having Zoom calls about breaking away and basically creating more greed… joke.
“They’ll be amending that statement as we speak because they’ll have seen the reaction. Not just of people on this channel, on social media, or the government. They’ll be backtracking down the road because they are bottle merchants this lot. Let’s make no mistake about it.
“It’s the same with Big Picture – they bottled out of that a week later. You talk about big clubs, Manchester United have acted like a small club for eight to ten years.
“They’ve been a small club in mentality, Arsenal act like a small club. Being a big club is not just having the global fanbase, it’s acting proper at the right time.
“I’m not against the modernisation of competitions but this is a grab, an absolute grab. The timing is hideous. What world are these people living in to think that they could bring this forward at this moment of time.
“No loyalty to this country and these leagues, enough is enough. There won’t be a football fan that isn’t seething at this.
“This is disowning your own club stuff this. How could you even think to come and watch the Super League here when you’ve left your 14 Prem clubs behind to play against each other.
“Your Championship club is dead, League One and League Two club is dead. Pyramid system that you’ve fought for for 150 years has gone because of six clubs?! Absolutely embarrassing, it’s never going to happen.
“Let them breakaway but punish them straightaway. If they announce a letter of intent has been signed they should be punished heavily. Massive fines, points deductions, take the titles off them – who cares
“Give the title to Burnley, Fulham. Let Fulham stay up. Relegate United, Liverpool and Arsenal because those three clubs are the history of this country they should be the ones to suffer most.
“Yeah, Chelsea, City are the new money in the game they’ve come forward – I’m not happy with them either let’s be clear. Tottenham I’m not really that bothered about.”
The group or elite clubs formally announced the breakaway on Sunday night, with 12 of the 15 founding members named as United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and PSG are likely to complete the founders, who cannot be relegated with five extra teams joining them each year.
Teams will be split into two groups of ten and play nine opponents home and away in a midweek league, with the top four from each group qualifying for end of season play-offs.
Winners could earn £212m, on top of their up-front fee – if they win every game, while ‘founders’ will still cash in £130m even if they get thumped every game.
Man Utd chairman Joel Glazer said: “By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring the world-class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez added: “We will help football at every level and take it to it’s rightful place in the world.
“Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”
While the clubs’ proposal insists the midweek fixtures could run alongside domestic competitions, the Premier League, Serie A and LaLiga earlier stated that any club taking part would be “banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level.”
And Neville slammed Liverpool and United for presenting themselves as clubs of the people while agreeing to the lucrative breakaway plans.
He raged: “I’m not against the modernisation of football competitions.
“But I am disgusted, absolutely disgusted. And I’m disgusted with Manchester United and Liverpool most.
“Liverpool pretend ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’, that they’re the people’s club, the fan’s club.
“Manchester United, 100 years born out of workers around here. And they’re breaking away into a league that they can’t be relegated from? It’s an absolute disgrace.”
His old boss Sir Alex Ferguson warned: “Talk of a Super League is a move away from 70 years of European club football.
“Everton are spending £500million to build a new stadium with ambitions to play in the Champions League. Fans all over love the competition as it is.”
While ex-United star Rio Ferdinand raged: “This is a war on football, — a disgrace. It’s a closed shop for bigwigs, The rich getting richer and the rest not even being considered.”
Speaking on Sky Sports at half-time in United’s game, Keane fumed: “It’s all about money.
“It doesn’t sound good and let’s hope it is stopped in it’s tracks because it’s greed, pure greed.”
Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards was similarly unimpressed.
He added: “What happens about fans and the memories fans have had over the years?
“Does all that go away because of money? I think it’s a disgrace.”
Neville’s initial reaction came on on co-commentary duty where he labelled the move ‘a joke’ and called for teams to be deducted points for making the controversial move mid-season.
He said: “I can’t focus on the game. They should deduct points from all six teams that have signed up to it. Deduct points off them all. To do it during a season? It’s a joke.”
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs are understood to have signed up despite reservations as they do not want to be left behind by a breakaway.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was asked about the controversial proposal after his side rescued a point against Fulham thanks to Eddie Nketiah’s 97th minute equaliser.
The Spaniard said: “I don’t know anything about it. Once I know every detail and have all the information then I can evaluate the situation and give you my opinion.”
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was similarly non-committal when pressed on the plans.
He said: “I’ve seen this morning the news and speculation. I can’t really say too much because my focus has been on this game.
“I haven’t looked into it, I’ve just been focused on this game so I need to sit down and see what it is.”
On Sunday, Uefa, the FA, the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), LaLiga, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A released a damning joint statement.
It reads: “UEFA, the English Football Association and the Premier League, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga, and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and Lega Serie A have learned that a few English, Spanish and Italian clubs may be planning to announce their creation of a closed, so-called Super League.
“If this were to happen, we wish to reiterate that we – UEFA, the English FA, RFEF, FIGC, the Premier League, LaLiga, Lega Serie A, but also FIFA and all our member associations – will remain united in our efforts to stop this cynical project, a project that is founded on the self-interest of a few clubs at a time when society needs solidarity more than ever.
“We will consider all measures available to us, at all levels, both judicial and sporting in order to prevent this happening. Football is based on open competitions and sporting merit; it cannot be any other way.
“As previously announced by FIFA and the six Federations, the clubs concerned will be banned from playing in any other competition at domestic, European or world level, and their players could be denied the opportunity to represent their national teams.
“We thank those clubs in other countries, especially the French and German clubs, who have refused to sign up to this.
“We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project if it were to be announced. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.”
We call on all lovers of football, supporters and politicians, to join us in fighting against such a project. This persistent self-interest of a few has been going on for too long. Enough is enough.”
Joint statement from Uefa, FA, Prem, LaLiga, Serie A and more
A Prem statement also read: “A European Super League will undermine the appeal of the whole game. It will have a deeply damaging impact on prospects of the Premier League and all those who rely on our funding and solidarity to prosper. We will work with fans, the FA, EFL, PFA and LMA, as well as other stakeholders, at home and abroad, to defend the integrity of English football.
The Premier League added: “This attacks the principles of open competition and sporting merit which are at the heart of domestic and European football.
“Fans of any club in England and across Europe can currently dream that their team may climb to the top and play against the best.
“We believe the European Super League would destroy this dream.”
The European Club Association, officially led by Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, held a summit in response to the breakaway, confirming the plan “would be strongly opposed” and backing the Uefa proposals.
Neither Agnelli, nor representatives of the other 11 rebels even attended, with the Italian expected to be stripped of his position.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
