ED Woodward has sensationally quit Manchester United amid the Super League crisis.
Sun Sport understands the Man Utd bigwig quit the club on Monday BEFORE Chelsea and Manchester City pulled out of the hated competition.
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All six English clubs have since quit the rebel league in a massive victory for fan power.
Man Utd announced Woodward’s exit last night, confirming he will step down from his role at the end of 2021.
The executive vice-chairman praised his club in a statement, saying: “I am extremely proud to have served United and it has been an honour to work for the world’s greatest football club for the past 16 years.”
He added that it will be “difficult to walk away at the end of the year” but that he is “proud of the regeneration of the club’s culture”.
MORE ON SUPER LEAGUE OUTRAGE
The football chief made no mention of the Super League crisis as he announced his departure, but thanked fans for their support “during the good and bad times”.
“I would like to thank United’s passionate fans for their support during the good and bad times,” he said in a mention of the Covid pandemic.
“I know this has been a challenging period in our history, but your support for the team has never, ever been in doubt.”
SUPER LEAGUE IN TATTERS
United legend Gary Neville – a vocal critic of the plans – celebrated the rebel league’s demise before calling on clubs owners to follow Woodward out.
The Sky Sports pundit said: “Ed Woodward is the trunk of the tree. We now need to go for the roots – the Glazers have no place in Manchester any more.
Ed Woodward is the trunk of the tree. We now need to go for the roots.
Gary Neville
“Every single exec who sits at the table, they need throwing out of that club, he knew his time in football was finished.”
United finally made a statement confirming they were quitting the Super League proposals late night.
The club said it will not be participating after listening “carefully to the reaction from our fans, the UK government and other key stakeholders”.
Chelsea was the first to abandon the project after fans gathered outside their Stamford Bridge ground to voice their anger with Manchester City following soon after.
Arsenal were next, followed by Spurs, Liverpool & United.
The severity of the backlash rocked United’s Executive Vice-Chairman and he has decided to step aside after a 16-year association with the club.
It is believed he may have walked out of his job on a point of principle.
If so he will be the most significant footballing figure to take a stand against the hated Super League.
Boris Johnson earlier urged the clubs to drop out and described the European Super League as a “cartel”.
Writing on Twitter, the PM said: “I hope the other clubs involved in the European Super League will follow their [Chelsea and Man City] lead.”
Meanwhile, Woodward clearly no longer wants to be targeted by fans who see this as a cash grab for Europe’s so called giants.
‘LIARS’
The announcement about the new Super League came on Sunday.
United were convinced the initial backlash would eventually subside and wanted to work with the Premier League to ensure the domestic game would not be affected.
But one of the final straws will have come on Tuesday when UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin referred to Woodward and his fellow rebel club leaders as “snakes” and “liars”.
Woodward previously faced opposition from United fans having advised the Glazers during their unpopular takeover of the club back in 2005.
He was later recruited into the finance and commercial departments before becoming effectively Chief Executive in 2013 when David Gill stepped down.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
