Chelsea and 8 Other Breakaway Clubs Re-Join ECA until 2023

Is the European Super League idea finally dead? Well, it seems to be for the time being, even if there are suggestions that it will return in a different guise. This week it was announced that Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan, Internazionale and Atlético Madrid have been readmitted to the European Club Association (ECA) – the organisation the clubs abandoned to initiate the Super League breakaway.

Of course, you will notice that a few big names are absent from that list – Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid have not re-joined. The three clubs have vowed to continue with their plans to create an ESL, although it’s difficult to imagine them pulling it off any time soon. Those three teams have huge financial problems at the moment, so it’s understandable the owners are pushing for some sort of change to the status quo.

We don’t need to remind readers of this site of the huge backlash from Chelsea fans on the plans for the Super League. The Chelsea Supporters Trust gave a statement saying that they were “appalled” by the move, and there was a protest outside Stamford Bridge before the Brighton fixture on 20^th April.

Ex-Blue Cundy let rip on ESL plans ontalkSPORT

Some of the harshest words came from pundits and ex-players. Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy said at the time: “I don’t want this. This is not a level playing field, this is not what I grew up watching, and I do not want my club (Chelsea) to be involved in this.”. Cundy, who was hilariously pranked on his talkSPORT football show by comedian Darren Farley recently, has become a popular pundit since hanging up his boots in 2000.

But while the remaining three clubs outside of the ECA, who are led by Juventus supremo Andrea Agnelli, are pursuing legal action against UEFA and remain adamant that the Super League (in some form) will go ahead, it’s hard to see Chelsea are any other English club signing up. Even if the European clubs found a way to circumvent UEFA’s wrath, The Blues and the other English clubs have learned a lesson and won’t want to get burned again.

Express reports more format changes for Champions League

In related news, the Daily Express is reporting that UEFA plans to revamp (again) the planned changes to the Champions League format. For the 2024/25 season, UEFA has made plans for an extended Group Stage (teams would play 10 games, instead of 6), and the overall number of teams would be extended from 32 to 36.

However, there was also a rule change that would allow the qualification of two teams based on UEFA coefficients. Basically, it’s a backdoor way into the competition for big teams that fail to finish in the qualification positions for the preceding season. UEFA always makes these things complicated, but Tottenham and Roma, for example, could have gained entry into the Champions League this year under that format.

Nevertheless, the Express is reporting that UEFA has plans to change those plans again. An announcement was supposed to be made in April, but the European Super League debacle obviously caused a bit of commotion. The Express says to expect a decision on the latest reforms next month.