RefluxSemantic wrote:Its just really hard to explain the significance of football in European culture.
Ive thought about how to put this for a while amd I think I can explain some things.
Football is actually a very cultural phenomenon, and supporters tend to be fans of teams in the first place and fans of the sport in the second place. The support for smaller teams is very impressive. People dont just rally behind the big teams (although these do have more supporters), they seem to support local teams. Every reasonably sized city has a football club that has plenty of supporters. There are clubs in the 2nd Dutch league that fill stadiums, despite those clubs hardly managing to pay their players a living wage.
In principle I understand why you'd want all the top teams with all the best players in one competition and just ignore the rest of football, but in practice football is a big part of the culture and people choose to support these clubs in huge numbers. While on average more people are fan of the big clubs, those numbers really pale in comparison to the total number of football fans in the world. The clubs in every domestic competition have tons of supporters that watch every single game and follow these clubs and competitions. This is what football culture is. I feel like you'd have to experience the actual rivalry between local teams and how these supporters truly experience the games to understand.
Im a fan of a mid tier club and I watch all their games. I dont care about the big clubs, and a good match in the CL is fun but I dont actively watch those. When my club plays big matches I am nervous and excited, I shiver from the tension and my heartbeat goes through the roof. When they score I scream so loudly that my throat is sore the next day, when they lose my evening is ruined. I experience their games with the purest form of passion that no other clubs could ever bring about. Some of the best memories of the game that I have were those of the 2018 season when my small club got to the semifinals of the CL. It was a total fluke and it was amazing. When they were knocked out I was devastated, but ultimately them getting so far and playing so well made me proud to be a fan.
Thats what football is about. I dont care that they will usually get knocked out and lose in these competitions, I care for those rare moments that are memorable to me. For bigger clubs its winning the entire thing, for smaller clubs it might simply be qualifying for the CL, doing well in the EL or winning the domestic league. Who didnt love the story of Leiceister winning the BPL? For even smaller teams its about winning the domestic cup or even avoiding relegation. The football pyramid as it is gives all fans things to cheer for, games that bring about pure passion and emotion.
This super league intends to take a bit of that football pyramid and ruin it. No more Ajax, Atalanta or Leipzig going for a miracle run, no Porto barely beating the big Juventus. Those are the things that make the sport beautiful, and the ESL is trying to take that away from us. It goes against the culture of football, the way people experience the sport. This league needs to be stopped.