The original Super League was met with a number of fan protests back in 2021
All six English clubs involved pulled out of the idea soon after it was announced
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By LEWIS BROWNING
Published: 08:17 EST, 17 December 2024 | Updated: 08:25 EST, 17 December 2024
The European Super League has made a return as the revamped Unify League, according to a report.
The original Super League rocked the football world in April 2021 when it was announced as a continental club competition consisting of the top sides in Europe, including six Premier League clubs.
Fans opposed the idea immediately, launching a number of protests including Manchester City and United fans joining forces, Red Devils supporters storming into Old Trafford and causing a game to be postponed. The Premier League clubs involved were City, United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The idea was also criticised by managers, former players and challenged legally, with the aim that clubs intending to compete in the breakaway league would be banned from UEFA competition immediately.
At present, two teams remain as backers of the proposed league - Real Madrid and Barcelona with Madrid president Florentino Perez the chairman of the organisation, with Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli, Manchester United co-chairman Joel Glazer, Liverpool owner John W Henry and Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke serving as vice chairmen.
It had appeared that the idea was dead in the water with no serious signs of revival since, but the revamped Unify League, reported by the Telegraph, could now be the biggest challenge UEFA officials have faced in years.
The European Super League, headed by Florentino Perez (left), is being relaunched as a free-to-air Unify League
The new plan is said to pride itself on the idea that its competition would be free to air, as opposed to current competitions. It would be streamed by a branded 'Unified' platform via an app, similar to the model of the likes of Netflix and Amazon.
Subscribers are understood to be able to watch games for free with lots of adverts or pay a fee to remove adverts.
In the original league, there was an idea that some clubs would qualify automatically every year, though that plan is now understood to have been scrapped.
Instead, the idea is that there will be annual qualification for all for leagues in the Unify League, with 96 teams taking part in total. The top two leagues would be called the Star League and the Gold League, with 16 teams in both divisions, divided into two groups of eight.
The third and fourth divisions would be named the Blue League and Union League.
In the final eight, made up of two teams from each of the four groups in the top two leagues, would consist of two-legged quarter finals would be played, followed by one-legged semi final at a neutral venue on the same week as the final.
It is reported that there would then be 14 group stage fixtures, with the winners playing 18 games in total.
The Blue and Union Leagues would work in the same way.
Six Premier League clubs originally entered by pulled out after protests from their fans
Tensions escalated outside Old Trafford as Manchester United fans made feelings known
Chelsea fans were also among those to head to their home ground to protest the move
It is headed by A22 Sports, a Madrid-based company which was originally established to advise the original Super League.
John Hahn, co-founder of A22, said: 'We have listened intently to a broad group of clubs, leagues and fans and with these changes believe we have a lot of support. We are not expecting the public support of clubs at this time, logically that will come following the official recognition of the Unify League.'