Football is life.
That line from Ted Las was meant as a joke, a small nod to how absurdly emotional the sport can be.
But in April 2021, it stopped sounding funny. For a brief, chaotic moment, football life as we knew it felt genuinely threatened, as if someone had decided the sport could be remade overnight without asking the people who actually live and breathe it.
Out of the blue, twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs have announced that they are launching their own competition, the European Super League. This was not a new cup to sit quietly alongside the Champions League, or a harmless midweek experiment to spice up the calendar. It was something much bigger, a breakaway league designed to keep the richest teams consistently at the top, shielded from the usual risks of failure, bad seasons and the beautiful unpredictability that make football alive.
It was sold as progress, as a “level up” for the new future of elite football. However, supporters heard something completely different. They saw business owners put “VIP only” tape around the game, which was built on the idea of being open to all.
The same names always cashed in, whether they earned it on the field or not, while everyone else stayed outside looking in.
And that was the most shocking part. European football has always been chaotic, sometimes unfair, often chaotic, but in all there is one sacred rule. Places in the biggest competitions are meant to be won, not handed out like birthrights, and the Super League threatened to destroy that principle.
Now even that final resistance has ended with Real Madrid, the last club still linked to the project, negotiate a peace deal with UEFA and the European Football Clubs’ Group.
Which means – RIP European Super League. The fans never accepted the idea of a European Super League. (Photo by Reuters)
“This agreement will also serve in principle to resolve their legal disputes related to the European Super League once a final agreement is made,” the statement added, ending a saga that dragged on long after the original idea had already died out in public.
Because the truth is that the Super League was born out of fear as much as greed. The pandemic destroyed the club’s finances and the richest owners wanted a competition that would guarantee huge revenues every season, regardless of what happened in the domestic leagues.
The solution they envisioned was a closed shop, a protected ring where the fifteen founding clubs would never have to qualify, where results mattered less than reputation, commercial interest and a global fan base. In other words, football has been recast as a private members’ club rather than an open struggle where success is to be earned.
The fans are the only owners of football
The Super League was not defeated in court. It was defeated in the streets.
The backlash came immediately, and it came loudly. Supporters not only disagreed with the idea. They exploded because they immediately understood what was being taken from them – the very idea that football is for everyone.
It wasn’t just outrage online, it was anger outside stadiums, banners in the streets, supporters openly bashing the owners for trying to turn their clubs into franchises. Fans have not embraced the “VIP only” idea of Super League. (Photo by Reuters)
Protests broke out across England almost immediately. Chelsea fans blocked team buses, Liverpool supporters called it a betrayal and Manchester United fans stormed Old Trafford and forced the match to be postponed in scenes almost unthinkable in the modern game.
What followed was the inevitable cry of “abandon ship” from the creators themselves. Within 72 hours, the Premier League’s Big Six pulled out. They saw the truth almost immediately, the supporters would never accept it, not in England or anywhere, and one by one the clubs scrambled for an apology. Former Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Čech calms the protests of the fans. (Photo by Reuters)
Then the Italian clubs disappeared and suddenly what was supposed to be a great new order was brought together by two giants. Barcelona and Real Madrid, historically hailed as arch-rivals, suddenly went hand in hand to keep the idea alive, even as others said, “Sorry, it’s too much drama for us.”
As Perez watched his dream die
Florentino Perez watched the Super League become his personal crusade, a dream he refused to give up even as everyone else quietly carried on. He kept insisting that football needed saving, that this was the future, that secession would come back stronger. Florentino Perez failed to save his dream Super League project. (Photo by Reuters)
But one by one all his allies disappeared. Juventus moved away. Barcelona finally gave way. And suddenly Perez was left standing almost alone, still clutching at the idea he had already buried for the rest of the game, even threatening to punish others who said they believed in him by just ducking and running.
For years, Super League lingered as a specter of ambition, more courtroom drama than footballing reality. And now that Madrid has made peace with UEFA, it’s clear what ended up happening: Perez didn’t build a new world. He simply understood that his dream must die.
Why was it so bad?
The Super League struck such a nerve because it went straight to the soul of football. It wasn’t just a new tournament, it was an attempt to rewrite the oldest rule of the game: that places are won, not cursed.
It would tear apart the domestic leagues, widen the gap between the rich and the rest, and turn the competition into a vicious circle of privilege. The fans weren’t upset because they fear change, they were upset because it looked like football was being locked away and sold back as a luxury product.
If it’s proven to be one good thing, it’s that the fans still matter. In a sport where money usually gets the last word, this time they had terraces. Clubs folded, the idea crumbled and football reminded everyone that glory is to be chased, not delayed.
Football is life. And thankfully, life still triumphs over greed.
– The end
Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
February 14, 2026