Crystal Palace star Andros Townsend believes some of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ will never regain the trust their fans amid calls for Liverpool and Manchester United’s owners to go.
After announcing they would be part of a breakaway European Super League on Sunday, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United and Tottenham have all been forced into a humiliating climbdown after the controversial project sparked a furious backlash from fans.
Reds owner John W Henry has delivered an apology to Liverpool fans after the proposal collapsed, but Townsend suggests that might not be enough.
“I think for some of them too much damage has been done,” said Townsend on talkSPORT’s Sports Breakfast.
“They are not football fans, they are not thinking, ‘We have to do this for the sake of football’, they are obviously only thinking about the money and getting the most money for their own clubs.
“Yes, people can say it’s greedy, but these guys didn’t become millionaires and billionaires by being understanding, they’re obviously ruthless in their field.
“So I can understand why they’ve done it, but it was obviously the wrong decision and the right decision has come out on top.”
While the owners of Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Spurs were all complicit in the plans, many are particularly upset with Liverpool and United.
Henry and Joel Glazer were both in line to be vice chairmen of the Super League, ignoring a rich tradition of compassion for fans instilled by the likes of Sir Matt Busby and Bill Shankly.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher also believes it is the end of Henry and his Fenway Sports Group after their involvement in pushing the plans.
“I actually think the situation with Liverpool’s owners is that l don’t see how they can continue,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“They can’t just leave the club, obviously, the business is worth a lot of money. But I don’t see a future for the ownership of FSG at Liverpool on the back of this.
“This will never be forgotten. I think the best thing for them would be to find a new buyer.
“I think it will be very difficult for them to have any sort of relationship with Liverpool supporters and the club going forward.”
Ed Woodward announced he was leaving as Man United’s executive vice-chairman on Tuesday night before the club pulled out of the Super League.
Gary Neville now wants the Glazers to follow too.
“Jamie Carragher has just talked about FSG having no place in Liverpool, the Glazers have no place in Manchester anymore,” he declared.
“We have to work hard together to ensure that ownership rules in this country are changed, that we have a system whereby this cannot happen. Whether this is government intervention or an independent regulator. Whether it be a fan-owned club rule, whatever it is, we have to make sure that this is the catalyst for change.
“The people have spoken. We were on the brink of anarchy if this continued. The Chelsea fans who turned up on Tuesday, the Leeds and Liverpool fans on Monday, the social media presence, and these six sets of owners in this country and the other ones in Europe have misread this situation badly.
“We are in the midst of a pandemic. We’ve been locked in for months. We are not in a decent place here and they’ve tried to run away with the crown jewels while we are all down.”
And if the trends on Twitter last night are anything to go by, it’s not just the Liverpool and Manchester United owners who ought to be sweating…
