Will Man City FFP saga revive Super League talk? LIV Golf used as warning as Danny Mills explains why superstar players will favour ‘knighthoods’ over money
Super League plans faced fierce backlash from fans
Back in the spring of 2021, it was revealed that 12 heavyweight outfits had agreed to form their own competition - with the plan being to welcome 20 teams into that pack. Premier League giants City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham were all involved.
The so-called ‘Big Six’ faced serious backlash from supporters, with the proposals eventually being ripped up. The shadow of a Super League has, however, continued to loom large - with the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus refusing to scrap the plans entirely.
Part of the problem for those considering a severing of ties with UEFA and FIFA is that any player on their books would no longer be eligible to represent their respective countries in international tournaments - which would make it difficult for transfers to be agreed.
There would, however, be greater freedom when it comes to recruitment, with FFP and PSR regulations being removed. That would allow the likes of City, and other teams with super wealthy owners, to splash the cash as they see fit. Those at the Etihad Stadium are currently locked in an FFP battle that sees 114 charges hanging over the blue half of Manchester and the harshest of punishments being mooted.
If City decided that they no longer wanted to dance to the Premier League’s tune, and that of the Football Association, could they be tempted to enter back into Super League construction discussions?
Why players would be against a European Super League
When that question was put to Mills, the former City defender - who was speaking in association with Gambling.com, the guide to the best online casinos - told GOAL: “It's very, very difficult.
“I've had this discussion many, many times. To play international football, FIFA have to ratify your competition. So if FIFA don't ratify your Super League, none of those players can play in international competition.
“Now, as much as we think players favour club over country, when it comes to World Cups, European Championships, you win the Premier League, you win the Champions League, you're a legend at your football club, a legend in your city. You win the World Cup, you win the Euros, you're a legend of your country, you get knighthoods, it's there forever.
“If I said to you now, who won the Champions League in 2017? You probably don't know without looking it up. There's a limit to the impact that has. But if I said name all those countries who won the World Cups, you can pretty much list them. You know who they are.
“So I don't think the Super League will ever have legs in that way. Saudi have kind of tried it, it hasn't really worked. China tried it before, that didn't really work. You're always going to need competition. And the best players will still always want to play international football.”
LIV Golf proves that these projects can collapse
Other sports have seen independent competitions formed, such as LIV Golf - which enticed some of the best players on the planet into their ranks with the promise of lucrative contracts and a new format that was intended to capture the imagination of a worldwide audience.
That project is now going through a bankruptcy process, while endeavouring to get new partners and finance on board, and highlights how the grass is not always greener on the other side.
Asked about any similarities between LIV and a European Super League, as leading golfers were allowed to compete in the four majors and Ryder Cup events, Mills said: “How's that gone? It hasn't gone brilliantly.
“They found a very short-term workaround that then went ‘pop’. Because it's not watchable. Sport is all about jeopardy. Sport is all about winning and losing. And people want fair competition.
“That's why our pyramid is so successful, because you have relegation and promotion. There's hope, there's devastation when you get relegated. If it becomes very, very bland and you cannot get relegated, you get to the stage where, halfway through the season, you don't need to bother anymore.
“How competitive are the games? Is it worth watching? No. This is why the EFL have changed it in the Championship to eight teams in the play-offs. To make it even more competitive.
“Look at teams now, you know seventh, eighth place might get you into Europe. It extends the season. It used to be a case, when you get to March, ‘yeah, we're alright now, doesn't really make much difference, we ain't getting relegated, we ain't making Europe’. You take your foot off the gas by 10, 15 per cent and some of the games become a bit of a nonsense.
“If you have a Super League, if you're not in the top four with 10, 15 games to go, you go ‘don't need to bother now’ and the standard falls. People don't want to watch it because there's no jeopardy.
“We all watch sport because of jeopardy, one way or the other. We all love a penalty shootout because, ultimately, we want to see someone miss. Sport is cruel in that way. If you take that away, it becomes unwatchable, in my opinion.”
Man City waiting on sanctions in long-running FFP saga
It is yet to be determined what will happen with City, as they appeal against the initial guilty verdicts that have been levelled against them. Uncertainty continues to hang over the Premier League and English football as a whole.
The Blues could be expelled from the top-flight, hit with points deductions and transfer embargoes, with questions being asked of what league standings and trophy tilts - at home and abroad - mean if those in Manchester are to be stung with the toughest of penalties, which could see major silverware taken away from them.
