The European Super League looks dead and just about buried before it even really started.
All six English clubs pulled out of the breakaway competition after fan and media backlash took over England amidst the announcement of the Super League.
Just 48 hours after the football world was shaken to its core, owners of the Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool have moved to leave the Super League and return to the status quo.
Manchester City and Chelsea were the first to make the decision to back out, they were also the two most hesitant clubs to join.
The other four quickly followed with statements declaring their exit from the league, crucially though, in those statements only Arsenal apologised to their fans.
As a result of listening to you and the wider football community over recent days we are withdrawing from the proposed Super League.
We made a mistake, and we apologise for it.
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2021
Manchester United's statement was followed by news that executive vice chairman Ed Woodward had resigned.
Woodward has been a constant source of anger for United fans, with many believing the club had lost its identity under his watch.
Reports emerged yesterday that Woodward was confronted by United captain Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw over the lack of communication from board level to the players and the face that manager Ole Gunner Solksjaer was left to face the media and deal with the questions alone.
Club statement.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) April 20, 2021
Former Manchester United full-back and current Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has been extremely vocal about his disappointment in his club and all the clubs joining the league.
Neville is being praised as the face of the movement to get the English teams to depart the controversial new venture and return to the Premier League as they were.
Gary Neville appreciation post.
When football fans needed a leader to spearhead their voice, Gary stepped up. pic.twitter.com/OgWt7XG76G
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) April 20, 2021
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson took to twitter to vent his feelings about the proposed move.
Henderson said all players were against the move.
— Jordan Henderson (@JHenderson) April 20, 2021
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez said the contract the clubs had signed to be founding members of the new competition were legally binding and that there was no getting out of it.
How the English clubs go about exiting the deal they only just entered remains to be seen, but for now it seems football has been saved.
