‘Boy, that escalated quickly’: Social media revels in the whirlwind collapse of the European Super League with brilliant memes laying into the humiliated clubs and their clueless owners
- Social media wasted little time in mercilessly ripping the Super League concept
- Now nine of the 12 ‘founding member’ teams have withdrawn from the league
- Fans, former players and pundits have all weighed in online to mock the demise
- Sportsmail takes a look through some of the best reactions
It’s fair to say the rapid rise and spectacular fall of the proposed European Super League has been subject to every which way of criticism, humour and sheer disbelief on social media.
The world of sport was rocked by the astonishing proposals of the Premier League ‘Big Six,’ in which they audaciously outlined how they would be forming a breakaway league along with six fellow ‘founding members’ in Europe.
After being met with immediate anger and distaste, the Super League plans began to unravel at a rapid pace resulting in humiliating back-downs and red-faced apologies from the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool’s controlling owner John W Henry.
Now, fans across the world have continued to pour in online and offer their takes on the doomed super league, which is unlikely to be forgotten any time soon.
The responses were endless, with seemingly not a single fan in favour of the format which threatened to tear apart football at its very seemed.
No stone was left unturned as fans, former players and pundits alike piled in an eviscerated the Super League, mocking everything from its ‘GCSE level’ design branding to the embarrassingly short shelf-life.
Sportsmail takes a look across some of the best responses…
Pundit Jamie Carragher, who was a leading voice in the charge to take down the Super League, took particular pride in tweeting a mocked up gravestone which showed the Super League to have lived for no longer than two whole days.
Former Manchester United man Rio Ferdinand also expressed his delight, sharing a clip of himself laughing and rubbing his hands together in the studio while adding ‘cheerioooooo’.
Lots of praise was dished out around the football community, for stoppage an idea several years in the making dead in its tracks.
At the centre of most people’s anger was Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez, who would have acted as president for the Super League.
On Monday night Perez gave a disastrous interview on Spanish television in which he claimed the Super League would ‘save football’ before bleating about how some of the biggest clubs in the world – his own included – had lost lots of money during the pandemic.
Fans were quick to mock Perez, with one user dubbing a picture of PSG star Kylian Mbappe zipping past the outstretched grasp of Gerard Pique by inserting Perez’s name above.
Many fans simply could not get over how comical the whole idea had been.
Teams such as Tottenham and Arsenal had signed and proudly introduced themselves as ‘founding members’ despite neither having won a single Champions League trophy.
This led to a barrage of fun-poking, with one user on Twitter likening Tottenham’s inclusion to that of Bananaman getting called up as an Avenger.
The tweet quickly went viral with fans all over the world loving the comparison, but things were soon to take an added twist.
None other than the Beano magazine chose to get involved after seeing the joke online, and quickly added a hearty dose of humour of their own.
The kids comic commented: ‘Bananaman has asked us to confirm joining the Avengers in a Comic ‘Super’ League has no a-peel to him.
‘Bananaman is going NOWHERE! I’m staying faithful to my existing bunch.’
Others felt there was a need to bring some serious focus upon how much of a sham the whole thing had felt.
The ‘founding members’ had presented both a detailed outline of the proposed tournament and the designs which were to be used.
Except, they were incredibly underwhelming.
The basic application usage was not lost on many people, with some drawing comical comparisons to a student’s piece of GCSE coursework.
Much delight was also yielded from the potential repercussions of the Super League had it pressed ahead as planned.
Opposing organisations including FIFA and UEFA and had already put up fierce opposition, insisting players would not be able to compete in a defecting Super League and also represent their nations in international tournaments.
This led to an rise in speculation as to what players England could lose and how Gareth Southgate’s team could look.
Some poked fun at a lack of selection, with the below tweet showing a selection of celebrities pulling on the Three Lions shirt for the annual Soccer Aid match at Old Trafford.
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