Everton have issued a withering response to the plans for a European Super League that have plunged football across the continent into chaos.
Issuing a statement on Tuesday morning, the Merseyside club said: ‘Everton is saddened and disappointed to see proposals of a breakaway league pushed forward by six clubs.
‘Six clubs acting entirely in their own interests. Six clubs tarnishing the reputation of our league and the game. Six clubs choosing to disrespect every other club with whom they sit around the Premier League table. Six clubs taking for granted and even betraying the majority of football supporters across our country and beyond.
Everton’s directors have slated plans by Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ to create a Super League
Liverpool, Everton’s Merseyside neighbours and rivals, are one of the Super League’s founders
‘At this time of national and international crisis – and a defining period for our game – clubs should be working together collaboratively with the ideals of our game and its supporters uppermost.
‘Instead, these clubs have been secretly conspiring to break away from a football pyramid that has served them so well. And in that Pyramid Everton salutes EVERY club, be it Leicester City, Accrington Stanley, Gillingham, Lincoln City, Morecambe, Southend United, Notts County and the rest who have, with their very being, enriched the lives of their supporters throughout the game’s history. And vice versa.
‘The self-proclaimed Super Six appear intent on disenfranchising supporters across the game – including their own – by putting the very structure that underpins the game we love under threat. The backlash is understandable and deserved – and has to be listened to.
‘This preposterous arrogance is not wanted anywhere in football outside of the clubs that have drafted this plan. On behalf of everyone associated with Everton, we respectfully ask that the proposals are immediately withdrawn and that the private meetings and subversive practices that have brought our beautiful game to possibly its lowest ever position in terms of trust end now.
‘Finally we would ask the owners, chairmen, and Board members of the six clubs to remember the privileged position they hold – not only as custodians of their clubs but also custodians of the game. The responsibility they carry should be taken seriously.
‘We urge them all to consider what they wish their legacy to be.’
Everton’s board of directors include chairman Bill Kenwright (left) and majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri (right), who are pictured either side of manager Carlo Ancelotti
Marcel Brands (left) also comprises part of the Everton board of directors at Goodison Park
Liverpool, Everton’s neighbours and rivals, are among the six founder clubs along with Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea.
The remaining teams in Europe to try and bring the competition to life are AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid.
Everton’s board of directors are majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, chairman Bill Kenwright, Alexander Ryazantsev, Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale and Marcel Brands.
Barrett-Baxendale then wrote personally to Everton fans, saying: ‘I feel it is only right that, as CEO of your football club, I write to you directly following the plans made public over the weekend for a European Super League.
‘As a proud custodian of Everton, I, along with my fellow board members, understand the responsibility that has been entrusted upon us to maintain the traditions of your club and of the wider game.
‘Everton was a founder member of the Football League and a founder member of the Premier League.
‘Throughout our history the club has always strived to move both Everton and the game forward. But we have always done so within the parameters of the pyramid structure which maintains the principles of open competition and sporting merit.
‘Sadly, the plans that have been made public by 12 clubs from across Europe – and six in our own Premier League – do not maintain those principles.
‘At this time of national crisis – in the face of a global pandemic and in a defining period for football – clubs should be working together collaboratively with the thoughts of our game and its supporters uppermost in our minds.
‘Disenfranchising supporters across the game and undermining the very structure of the pyramid that underpins the game we love is, quite simply, wrong.
Professor Denise Barrett-Baxendale (left) and Alexander Ryazantsev (right) are on the board
‘The response from voices across the game and beyond over the last 48 hours is understandable – and those voices should be listened to.
‘Rest assured, I, along with my fellow board members, will do everything possible to ensure our position on these proposals is made in the strongest possible terms – and the voice of Evertonians is heard, loud and clear.
‘It remains our hope that by working collaboratively, football will find the right answer for its future.’