"I'm absolutely DISGUSTED!" | Gary Neville's verdict on the European Super League proposals

let's bring in gary neville who as you heard was uh reacting to this news as it seeped through while he was commentating on the game at old trafford this afternoon gary what would you say now you've had time a little time to consider what um what this european breakaway league is all about and the reaction to it so far well the reaction to it is that it's been damned and rightly so um i mean i'm a manchester united fan and have been for 40 years of my life but i'm disgusted absolutely disgusted i'm disgusted with manchester united and liverpool most i mean liverpool they pretend y'all you'll never walk alone the people's club the fans club manchester united 100 years born out of workers around here and they're breaking away into a league without competition that they can't be relegated from it's an absolute disgrace and honestly we have to wrestle back the power in this country from the clubs at the top of this league and that includes my club and i've been calling for 12 months as part of another group for an independent regulator to bring checks and balances in place to stop this happening it's pure greed they're imposters they're imposters they're nothing to do the owners of this club the owners of liverpool the owners of chelsea the owners of manchester city they're nothing to do with football in this country there are 100 nod years of history in this country from fans that have lived and loved these clubs and they need protecting the fans need protecting i've benefited from football hugely i've made money out of football i invest money into a football club now i'm not against money in football but the principles and ethos are fair competition and the rights to play the game so that leicester win the league they go into the champions league manchester united aren't even in the champions league arsenal aren't even in the champions league you watched him earlier on today absolute shambles of a football club at the moment tottenham in the champions league and they want a god-given right to be in there they're an absolute joke and honestly the time has come now independent regulators stop these clubs having the power base enough is enough it does seem to be the suggestion that they would need permission from the premier league to take part and without it it would have to be a breakaway not just from uefa competition but from our domestic competition as well gary so with that in mind let's be clear about this what is the motivation well you're not the motivations it's greed dave my reaction earlier on wasn't an emotional reaction deduct them all points tomorrow put them at the bottom of the league and take the money off them seriously you've got to stamp on this this is a it's criminal it's a criminal act against football fans in this country make no mistake about it this is the biggest sport in the world this is the biggest sport in this country and it's a criminal act against the fans simple as that deduct points deduct their money and punish them do you think these clubs would have the courage knowing um how much widespread condemnation there is to go through with it gary dave the bottle merchants you never hear from the owners of these clubs absolute bottle merchants they've got no voice and then they'll probably hide in a few weeks and say it's nothing to do with them they're only talking about it seriously in the midst of a pandemic an economic crisis football clubs at national league level going bust nearly furloughing players clubs on the edge in league one and two and these are having zoom calls about breaking away and basically creating more greed joke roy what would you add to that believe it or not i agree with everything gary said which is quite unusual but yeah i go back to it we mentioned at half time i think it does come back to greed obviously we've seen new ownerships come into the english game buying premiership clubs championship clubs league one clubs over the last what 10 15 20 years and it is i i agree disagreed that's the only word i would use to describe it nothing but grade they they couldn't care less about the football supporter who works hard and supports their club and um money it's just down to money it's disgusting as well because the timing of it not that would that make it any better we still the season's not finished yet and they're talking about breaking away like you know gary was very strong on that you know he's been from the united for 40 years but i believe man city are involved in in this breakaway as well and i can't understand after what they have built in manchester with the local community all the money they've spent with the women's the men's the kids the grassroots for them to want to pull away i'm flabbergasted uh you know i really get them emotional but for them to want to pull away now it's just it's a disgrace to be honest the the teams involved in this it's just again it's about lining pockets and we know it's a business and in a day people are going to say well well the businessman yeah they are businesses but they're taking away the soul from from what we've believed is the best you know sport in the world and ripping it away it's like the ripping the heart and soul out of it and yeah it's it's a disgrace it really is dude there seems to be suggestions that the the six clubs involved from this country will will put a statement out at 9 30 this evening gary's still with us we had this before last season didn't we uh gary with another suggestion of how these big six clubs were going to essentially make more money now we have this are we just keeping knocking it down the road this problem until it is somehow addressed in a proper and right and permanent manner dave they'll be mending that statement as as as i speak they'll be amending that statement as we speak because they'll have seen the reaction not just of people within this channel not just of people on social media not just of the government they'll be backtracking down the road because they are bottle merchants this lot let's make no mistake about it let's make no mistake about it the same with big picture and they bottled out of that a week later so from my point of view listening to this tonight honestly you talk about big clubs manchester united have acted like a small club for about eight to ten years they've been a small club in mentality arsenal act like a small club the other some of the other clubs in the league that would that were actually missing out here that are actually doing really well they act like bigger clubs honestly but being a big club is not just about having the sort of what would be the global families it's acting proper at the right time i think right i heard roy during the halftime i'm to be fair i don't know this have bayern munich said that they're not part of it not at the moment psg if you're talking about the the biggest clubs in europe that aren't involved we're talking at the moment about the the big six in england plus the biggest three in spain and the and the big three in italy as well so no psg no bayern munich well bayern munich i think have always been a club i have to say that i've always thought that they were a decent club when i was playing against them as young i'd like to think that manchester united liverpool would stand there in the face of this and say something's not right here let's collaborate with the game to try and get a better competition a better champions league i'm not against the sort of modernization of competitions you know competitions have moved forward over the last 100 odd years i'm not everything i'm not for everything standing still but this is a grab an absolute grab a time when honestly the timing is hideous where do these people what what world are these people living in to think that they can bring this forward at this moment in time well could it have something to do with the fact that they perhaps don't feel any loyalty to this country and these leagues dave honestly just capture what you just said they've got no loyalty to this country and these leagues enough is enough you just hit the nail on the head there enough is enough there isn't a football fan in this country that won't be seeding and shouldn't be seething listening to this conversation and these announcements manchester united fans you know roy loves united i love united micah loves manchester city you know this is disowning your own club stuff this this is disowning your own club i mean seriously how could you even think to come and watch a super league here where you've left your 14 clubs in the premier league behind to play against each other your championship club's dead your efl one and two club's dead you nationally your pyramid system that you've fought for over 150 years has gone because of six clubs absolutely embarrassing it's never going to happen it's never going to happen let them break away but honestly punish them straight away just punish them if they announce a letter of intent has been signed as six clubs they should be punished heavily massive fines points deductions take the titles off them who cares give the title to burnley fulham let that bull let fulham stay up relegate united liverpool and arsenal because then three clubs to be fair of the history of this country they should be the ones that should suffer most yet chelsea city new money in the game they've sort of come forward i'm not happy with them either let's be clear talk to them i'm not really that bothered about you know manchester united liverpool and arsenal they should know better the history and tradition that runs through those three clubs is absolutely enormous i value it i value the history and tradition that runs through those three clubs but i tell you what they leave a lot to be desired at this moment in time the three of them and liverpool football club i mean seriously you go on the streets of liverpool i mean i have a great relationship with them at all don't like them don't like me but you know one thing i always thought about them they were honest they had integrity they would look after the people they'd look after their own that's gone forget that if they sign that letter of intent they're as bad as the rest of them

Channel: Sky Sports Football

Views: 3,354,172

Rating: 4.9483123 out of 5

Keywords: epl other 1920, football, football league, premier league, premier league highlights, sky sports, sky sports football, Gary Neville, Neville, Roy Keane, European Super League, Super League, Premier League, Champions League, European Super league, European Super League Gary Neville

Id: GP05EDm9EB8

Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 18 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/con10001]

I think most people would agree this is much, much worse than the formation of the premier league though. This completely removes the competitive aspect of the game completely. Yeah it’s hard to break into the top of the game currently, but this would make it literally an impossibility.

[u/rondg95]

Never thought I'd agree with Neville of all people, but he's hit the nail on the head with this one. The clubs should be ashamed of themselves.

[u/[deleted]]

I mean I know he's right, and it's a serious issue, but I do love it when he gets angry and has that squeaky high-pitched voice.

[u/aravindvrahul]

The European Super League sucks, but it's a monster that's been (at least in part) created by the very organisations decrying it now. Football was handed over to corporate interests, at the expense of the fans, a long time ago. Sky is crying now because they stand to loose from it. PL and FA allowed football to be owned by billionaires at the behest of Sky. Now, why are they acting surprised when they turn on them for money?. For me all this outrage from sky and other pundits this is a money Vs money issue more than anything. If CL proposes almost the same format, these same TV studios won't even cover them.

[u/MarcSlayton]

Ironic that they are saying this on Sky of all places. Sky was the TV company that benefited hugely from the breakaway that formed the FA Premier League. Sky was the company that caused the British public to start to have to pay to watch games on TV. They literally created a two tier system where those who can afford it can watch it and those was cannot are just out of luck or they have to go and watch it in a pub. People now forget that subscription TV to watch football was very controversial and unpopular when it was introduced.

We all know if a Super League gets up and running, Sky will be trying desperately to get the rights for it, and then their talking heads will be singing it's praises.

[u/Salute27]

If Sky get the rights for the ‘Super League’ I would be interested in the stance of Neville, Keane and Co then. Would they stay on to analyse and commentate for crazy money or leave.

[u/josshj]

I think relegation isn't the answer I think as they've shown they're only interested in making money hit them in their pockets fuck them. Us supporters have been here long before the owners and we'll be here long after as well. These are our clubs not theirs.

[u/ale_sandro1999]

This brought me to tears

[u/beanpole97]

Gary was spot on. This has honestly broken my heart, I never thought there would be a time that I would be having thoughts of turning my back on a club Ive supported for 15 years but this is really making me think. I just hope my other club that I support (Dortmund) don’t follow because then I’ll be done with football as a whole until this shit is sorted. Money has ruined football as we know it