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Football fans fearful as fresh plans for European Super League are announced
They don't seem to be getting the message: nobody wants this. Don't be fooled by any of it.
Football fans have been left fearful and asking why as fresh plans for a new European Super League have once again been posed by the same people behind the previous failed proposal.
According to an interview with A22 chief executive Bernd Reichart, the organisation created to help sponsor and onboard the previous Super League iteration, a new-look competition is being discussed and could contain 60-80 teams and a multi-divisional format (a key aspect it didn’t include last time).
Speaking to German outlet Die Welt, Reichart insists that the league would be based on sporting performance and merit alone, with no permanent members — again, a key issue with the franchising model set up and eventually abandoned back in 2021.
Nevertheless, despite supposed tweaks to the ‘competition’ format, the general consensus seems to be that A22‘s reassurances are an empty gesture and that the people behind this movement are once again looking to pull the wool over the eyes of football fans everywhere.
The A22 boss goes on to say that “teams would be guaranteed a minimum of 14 matches per season” and that talks with 50 possible participants have been “open, honest [and] constructive”, as well as suggesting that “clubs often find it impossible to speak out publicly against a system that uses the threat of sanctions to thwart opposition.”
Like the chief architects tried to argue on the first attempt, Reichart insisted that “the foundations of European football are in danger of collapsing” and that “it’s time for a change.”
“It is the clubs that bear the entrepreneurial risk in football. But when important decisions are at stake, they are too often forced to sit idly by on the sidelines as the sporting and financial foundations crumble around them”. Note, very little mention of fans anywhere here.
However, as the Football Supporters’ Association rightly pointed out, there is no need for another European competition catered towards the continent’s top clubs as one already exists: the Champions League — you know, one of the biggest and already most lucrative sporting events in the world.
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Moreover, Spanish football’s top division La Liga have also been the first to openly speak out against the Super League Mk.II, immediately rejecting the idea that home teams Real Madrid and Barcelona played a key role in championing last time round.
Writing in a statement, the organisation say: “The Super League is the wolf in the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It is disguising itself as an open and meritocratic competition, but underneath there is still the same selfish, elitist and greed-driven project. Don’t let their tales fool you.”
Now if that doesn’t tell you what proper football people think about this idea then what will?
Regardless of how they try to spin things to make it more palatable to clubs around Europe and their fans, it is nothing more than another money-grabbing attempt at spoiling the beautiful game.
Football isn’t perfect but this isn’t the answer.
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Featured Image — Super League/Sky Sports
News
Def Leppard announce HUGE arena gig in Manchester next year
Thomas Melia
English Glam Rock band Def Leppard have announced a brand new UK tour which features a stop in one of Manchester’s big arenas next year.
Known for hits like ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’, ‘Animal’, ‘Love Bites’ and more, Def Leppard are back on the road and they’re heading out on a UK tour.
The band has achieved worldwide acclaim since entering the rock scene with their first-ever single, ‘Wasted’, back in 1979, and their success resulted in getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
In 2023, Def Leppard teamed up with fellow metalheads Motley Crüe for the ultimate ‘Rock of Ages’, playing a spell-bounding gig at Wembley Stadium in front of 90,000 people.
The rock legends are continuing their career-highlight streak as now they’re about to play one of Manchester’s largest arenas, Co-op Live, sending 23,500 fans into ‘Hysteria’.
This upcoming Def Leppard UK tour sees the band making their way to Glasgow, Sheffield, London and Birmingham before visiting the music capital of the North.
The love for these rockers isn’t slowing down either, as their latest album ‘Drastic Symphonies’, a collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, scored Def Leppard their highest charting record in 32 years, debuting at number 4.
Fans will be over the moon to know that the five-piece visiting Co-op Live next year includes the same band lineup since 1992, with Joe Elliot, Rick Allen, Phil Collen, Rick Savage and Vivian Campbell playing out on the night.
The Rock Brigade will always make sure to remember Steve Clark, founding member and adorned- ‘Riffmaster’, and although the guitarist won’t be playing this innovative live music venue, fans will still give it their all for the current ‘Gods of War’.
These Sheffield-formed musicians have sold more than 110 million albums worldwide, so there will be no ‘Foolin’ around when it comes to screaming their lyrics at the top of your lungs next summer.
Def Leppard are coming to Co-op Live in Manchester on Monday 5 July, with tickets going on sale from 10am on Friday 5 September
You can get ready to grab yours HERE.
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Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)
News
Bolton man jailed for life after killing ‘vulnerable’ woman and hiding her body in his shed
Emily Sergeant
A man has been jailed for life after murdering a vulnerable woman and then proceeding to hide her body in a shed at his house in Bolton.
Christopher Barlow killed Mariann Borocz back in December 2024 after randomly meeting her at a shop and inviting her to his house, before killing her and then going on to dump her body in a locked shed in his garden.
55-year-old Mariann, who was originally from Hungary, was reported missing on Sunday 15 December having been last seen alive in the early hours of the previous day.
During the police search and investigation, CCTV showed Barlow following Mariann into a shop near his house and then back out again, and after Barlow was arrested on suspicion of assault on 23 December, officers found the keys to his shed – which is when they, sadly, discovered Mariann’s body.
Barlow was charged with murder, but the 63-year-old first denied this charge, and also denied any contact with Mariann.
The case was then handed over to Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team, led by Detective Chief Inspector Tony Platten.
A three-week trial then began at Manchester Crown Court, and when forensic evidence linked Barlow to Mariann’s body, he then when on to admit during the trial that he had invited her into his house, and found her not breathing in his kitchen about 40 minutes later.
Despite maintaining he did dot murder her, the jury returned its guilty verdict after less than a day of deliberation.
Last week, Barlow was sentenced to life in prison and must serve a minimum term of 20 years behind bars.
Detective Sergeant Fiona Manning described this as a ‘harrowing’ investigation and subsequent trial for Mariann’s family.
“Barlow befriended Mariann and she believed she could trust him,” DS Manning said, “That could not have been further from reality.”
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DS Manning then assured that GMP remains ‘steadfast’ in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of women in Greater Manchester‘s communities, and will continue to work ‘tirelessly’ to uphold justice.
She concluded: “Women should be able to go out freely and without fear that something may happen to them.”
Featured Image – GMP
Danny Jones -
9th February 2023 
