Comment: Why the Big Six cannot be allowed to block Bolton's path back to the top

Memories of Nicolas Anelka slaying United at the Reebok, Gary Speed breaking City’s hearts from the penalty spot and Kevin Davies battering Tottenham into submission are still relatively fresh in the mind of many a Bolton Wanderers supporter.

Not so long ago the mighty Whites took on the so-called Big Six as equals in the Premier League and, on their day, were well capable of giving each of them a bloodied nose.

History will not have entered into the money-oriented minds of The Glazers, Sheikh Mansour or Stan Kroenke when they signed on the dotted line for the European Super League – but a quick check back shows that Bolton boast 229 wins against United, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs; not many teams outside the top-flight can make that sort of statement.

Times have changed, as have Bolton’s fortunes. But it is the promise that one day they will return to the top table and claim a 230th victory against the current glamour boys of the English game that fuels each and every member of staff at the stadium, from the kit man to the manager himself.

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Take away the destination and the journey does not exist. And if the European Super League is allowed to go ahead as planned, its impact on domestic football will render climbing that ladder again a pointless exercise.

All manner of sanctions have been threatened to the breakaway clubs, from banning their players in international competition to expelling them from the Premier League altogether, but it is hard to see those threats as anything but hot air right now.

If United, Liverpool and Co are allowed to play in what is effectively a closed shop, then their participation in the regular league is moot. Even if they are able to resist playing weakened teams, what incentive is there for an Everton, a Leicester City or a West Ham United if the Champions League and Europa League is effectively nullified?

More importantly, what motivation is there for a Bolton Wanderers to claw their way back up from League Two to stand again as equal to the biggest clubs in the land?

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For all the pain fans have endured in the last few years – financial ruin, player strikes, food banks, successive relegations – none of them would trade-in those magical European nights against Atletico Madrid, Red Star, Bayern Munich. They opened up a football experience most Bolton supporters thought they would never get – and though it was scary at times, it can never be taken away.

If the ESL plan is successful, then no other club of Bolton’s stature gets to experience the thrill of mapping out a journey to Macedonia or flying into Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.

That might not float Roman Abramovic’s boat (or yacht) – but he does not represent the football fan, he is not even in the same category as the multi-millionaire players he employs. He is a filthy rich man aiming to get richer.

As a newspaper we asked the question yesterday: Who can stop the Big Six? The answer might just be ‘everyone’ – if it is a collective effort.

Wanderers fans will watch their team with just as much passion and pride when they take to the field against Carlisle tonight as they did at Old Trafford, Anfield or the Etihad. And that, dear readers, is a point missed completely by the Greedy Six.

Bolton, Wigan, Bradford, Swindon, Carlisle – or any other club that has seen the view from the top of the mountain – now has to do what they can to make sure the money men do not seal off the route back up to the peak.

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If FIFA don’t sell out and bar these teams from FIFA competitions what player would want to miss out on international matches, the WC, the Euros and domestic competitions ?
They are suggesting there would be a handful of teams invited to play each year but the founders place would be guaranteed so it would soon become boring for players and fans alike anyway.
Everything depends on the deal struck, but it’s a dumb idea and I hope the fans boycott those clubs.

All that has to be done is stop the games being televised. The TV contracts is where all the money comes from. Stop that and there is no further discussion needed.

terenceanne wrote:All that has to be done is stop the games being televised. The TV contracts is where all the money comes from. Stop that and there is no further discussion needed.

Unfortunately the TV companies would be queueing up to give them the big contracts - possibly at the expense of the rest.

terenceanne wrote:All that has to be done is stop the games being televised. The TV contracts is where all the money comes from. Stop that and there is no further discussion needed.

They'll just have the rights to stream their own games then which would make them even more money. Fans in Asia and China don't care about our traditional football pyramid. They'll make so much money from streaming they won't even care if the grounds are empty.

I don't think we should write off the remaining teams. As time goes on, some of them will become big names in the home market, by which time the formatted playing of the so called super league will have become stale and through repetition would have lost of fans. 
Someone has to be top, and champions, and we can see from the 2nd division how hard teams play in order to progress. This will never change

Well done FIFA and UEFA for sticking to their guns. And Gary Neville for one of the best rants I've seen in ages. And the fans of these clubs who made it clear to their owners what they think of them.
The important thing now is that the governing bodies review finance and ownership to ensure this sort of thing can't happen again in one form or another.
Always loved the German model and it was the German giants that said no from the off - British clubs need to be in the same position for next time a dumb ass idea comes around as it inevitably will.

wanderlust wrote:Well done FIFA and UEFA for sticking to their guns. And Gary Neville for one of the best rants I've seen in ages. And the fans of these clubs who made it clear to their owners what they think of them.
The important thing now is that the governing bodies review finance and ownership to ensure this sort of thing can't happen again in one form or another.
Always loved the German model and it was the German giants that said no from the off - British clubs need to be in the same position for next time a dumb ass idea comes around as it inevitably will.

It has nothing to do with government though.

They have no legal authority to say who can own football clubs and who can't nor how they finance them - other than normal company law requirements.

The government doesn't even regulate football - that's why I've already posted that I couldn't quite understand the likes of Johnson and Starmer making a fuss about things?

Ok, I can understand the political need to flag wave but I couldn't understand what legal powers they have (short of nationalising all the clubs and taking them into public ownership) to actually stopping the ESL if it had gone ahead.

As for the German model, again that can't apply to the UK unless the government compulsory buys the clubs and resells them on the 50 + 1 percentage rule in fan ownership favour - and again that will not happen as it would be both a legal, political and organisational nightmare.

The last time the government stuck its nose into football it set up the Supporters Direct which led to  Supporters Trust's being set up - that's hardly been a rip roaring success has it!!!

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