Former Celtic manager Neil Lennon tears Super League apart

By Euan Davidson

April 20, 2021

Around the world, football fans are celebrating the quick demise of the Super League.

The competition had planned to turn latter-stage Champions League matches into a grinding, weekly occurrence, tearing at the very fabric of what makes watching football worth it. Boards of top clubs like Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as non-trophy winners like Tottenham Hostpur, all looked set to join. There was to be no promotion or relegation, as clubs with giant budgets were to do battle constantly, without any sort of jeopardy whatsoever.

Except, it’s all fallen apart in hilarious fashion [BBC]. The only noise heard in the football world is the beeping of back-tracking behemoths.

And Neil Lennon, making a TV appearance for the first time in a while, has torn into it. Speaking on Sky Sports, Lennon was typically unequivocal in his damnation.

The former Celtic boss said:

“It can’t be a Super League without the like of PSG, Bayern Munich, Benfica anyway.

“This has been a concept that has been talked about for a long, long time, but just the manner in which is was brought out publicly and that there was going to be no relegation, it just was a non-starter for me.”

The Super League: not entirely popular / (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

“Complete embarrassment” says Neil Lennon on doomed Super League

Lennon continued:

“I don’t think the owners of these clubs who are dominated by money and power have really got a depth of feeling of people around the world, in Europe, particularly here in Britain, and not only for their own clubs but what it means to people in the UK.

“Already, we are seeing clubs backtracking and it’s a complete embarrassment for them.”

And here we are, as Celtic supporters, watching it all unfold. It’s a very strange situation to be in. Undoubtedly, while not affecting us in direct terms, there would’ve been far-reaching impacts. It might actually have been advantageous for Celtic, with the impacts on coefficients and Champions League qualification.

Still, it’s quite fun to view this from the back of the room. While massive football clubs are losing board members [Sky Sports] and fans are in revolt, we’re in a scenario where UEFA have the moral high-ground.

What a weird, weird day it’s been.

READ MORE: Marc Crosas shares his view on Super League