Carragher voices disgust at Liverpool owners FSG for Super League treason

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher says that he feels “sickened” by the club’s decision to play a leading role in proposals for a European Super League.

Twelve of Europe’s biggest clubs made seismic announcements on Sunday about joining the new competition. As well as Liverpool, their ‘Big Six’ rivals including Manchester United have all signed up. What’s more, the leading clubs in Spain and Italy will also play a role if the plans go ahead.

However, the teams have faced fierce criticism from governing bodies and pundits alike.

The Premier League, the FA, UEFA and the UK government all condemned the plans. Meanwhile, Gary Neville called for the likes of Liverpool and United to face relegation from the English top flight.

Writing in a column for the Daily Telegraph, ex-Reds defender Carragher had his say.

The centre-back played a part in winning several trophies with his boyhood club, made possible by the current football structure which the European Super League would remove.

“All I have heard from Liverpool this year is how much they have missed their fans. Funny how the voices on the Kop matter only when it is most convenient,” he wrote.

“The more I read about the European Super League proposals, the more it seems Liverpool’s owners must like empty stadiums because all they have done is raise the likelihood of another mass walkout.”

Liverpool fans revolted in 2016, walking out of Anfield in the 77th minute of a clash with Sunderland to protest at plans to charge fans £77 for match tickets.

The pundit then insisted that clubs should never take the current structure of league football for granted.

“Liverpool’s game with Leeds on Monday night could not be better timed to expose the insanity of the closed-shop idea,” Carragher added.

“It is a game with potentially massive ramifications for Champions League qualification, full of jeopardy, and hence drama.

“Millions will tune in for that reason, emotions running high whatever the result.

“The same anxious excitement will accompany all of Liverpool’s remaining seven games, which is why the broadcasters pay millions for them. That is the beauty of league football – where every action and point matters.”

Carragher then took aim at Liverpool’s owners, US-based Fenway Sports Group, for approving the plans.

“That is why, as a former Liverpool player, it sickens me that my club’s reputation is being damaged by the arrogance of an ownership group that wants to remove such peril, creating a culture where we no longer need to fight to earn our success. That is the antithesis of everything I understand football – especially in my city – to stand for,” he said.

“To be tainted by association with the European Super League is bad enough, but Liverpool’s apparent leading role in threatening football’s competitive ideals – the very ideals which allowed the club to emerge from England’s second division to become six-time European champions – is a betrayal of a heritage they are seeking to cash in on.”

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UEFA and the Premier League have threatened expulsion from their competitions for clubs wishing to enter a European Super League.

However, The Times has revealed that the Super League has already filed motions in several courts in the face of potential bans.

READ MORE: Report – Jurgen Klopp in revolt with FSG over European Super League plan for Liverpool