The ESL – how it was reported

It’s an interesting and in its own way instructive if not informative process to review that reporting of the rise and immediate fall of the ESL.

No one broke the story as a scoop and few bothered with the detail when the project emerged. There was a clue as neither Real Madrid nor UEFA seemed that troubled by the attack at Anfield on the Spanish club coach by Liverpool thugs.

By then Liverpool owner Henry  was presumably already in cahoots with Real Madrid President Fiorentino Perez.

Although it was made clear that the 12 clubs wanted a midweek Euro competition without relegation and the domestic leagues would continue hopefully with their presence the popular reaction which Gary Neville adopted was that the 12 were indifferent to the fans because the owners or Presidents did not understand our culture.

In fact the 12 wanted a bigger slice of the Euro cake and still eat the Premier/ Serie a/ la liga one.

In yesterday’s Times football section The Game Ian Hawkey, their European writer, made the paradoxical point that Barcelona and Real Madrid are actually owned by the fans – more so than the much lauded German clubs model with their 50 + 1 fan ownership whose leading lights Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were not interested in the ESL.

There is no fan ownership of Paris St Germain who also were disinterested in being a founder member.

And how about this for a Machiavellian conspiracy theory?

The prime mover the billionaire Fiorentino Perez President of Real Madrid knew it would fail but  the project was a negotiating ploy as UEFA increased the numbers to 36 clubs in the Champions League.

So the 12 clubs – especially the skint Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona – could threaten UEFA with

“Give us more or this will one day happen as we will be back …’

Sadly the Press was as woeful in seeing the EFL coming as speculating on the consequences of its demise.