Jordan Henderson was ‘shocked’ after learning about Liverpool’s involvement in the European Super League. He said the club’s decision to entertain the breakaway plan made him ‘angry’.

Liverpool were one of the 12 richest clubs in Europe, including England’s Big Six, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter and AC Milan, which secretly conceived and signed up to the hated project.

Henderson said the scheme – which collapsed within 24 hours – put the Liverpool squad in a difficult position. However, he did praise John W. Henry for the swiftness with which he then listened to the fans and pulled out of it.

Henderson recalled the controversial time, saying: ‘On Sunday, 18 April, the day before we were due to play Leeds, news broke that we were one of 12 founder clubs from England, Italy and Spain that had agreed to take part in a new European Super League.

‘It was being reported that six Premier League clubs – Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – had signed up to a closed league, without the threat of relegation. The founding members were quickly branded the dirty dozen.

‘I couldn’t believe that we would sign up to something like this. I was disappointed that our club’s name was being associated with it, and I was disappointed that, by implication, I was being associated with it. Neither the manager, nor I, nor any of the Liverpool players, were told anything about the Super League ahead of time.

‘At the time, this hurt. Emotions and tensions were running high, especially for those of us who were caught up in it. With the benefit of hindsight and a cooler head, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe our owners deserve a little bit of credit for that part of it. 

‘The fact that they hadn’t told us meant we couldn’t be blamed for it or implicated in it, at least by those who were willing to look into the situation properly. There was no sales pitch to players or agents, no attempt to sweeten the pill and no bid to use whatever popularity we had to try to influence supporters.

‘Nevertheless, it still felt at the time as if they had put us in a desperately difficult position. There was, quite rightly, a massive outcry about the plans, and English fans and led the opposition to the Super League.

‘The opposition was pretty much across the board. From a personal perspective, I couldn’t believe that our club was putting its name to a plan that would kill the Champions League less than two years after that competition had given us and our supporters one of the best nights of our lives. The trophy that I had lifted in Madrid meant everything.

‘Henderson went on to speak about how the Liverpool fans reacted. He said:  At Anfield, fans had tied a banner on the railings that read “Shame on You. RIP LFC 1892–2021”. 

‘It quickly became evident that there was going to be a popular uprising and, still being a supporter myself, it meant I identified with what our fans were saying. How could I not? I know competitions change, and sometimes changes in football can ultimately be successful after initially being incredibly unpopular, but this felt like it was all too huge, too sudden and too ill thought out.

‘Liverpool’s history informed my thinking. The European Cup had done so much to forge our entire identity, and while I’m not daft enough to think it will always remain the same competition run by the same people in the same way, I was certain that trying to kill it off in this way was not right.

‘What I disliked most of all about it was the fact that it would essentially be a closed league. Fifteen of the 20 teams playing in it each season would be immune from relegation. 

‘The whole essence of football, to me, is sporting integrity. It’s about rewarding excellence, whether you’re a big club or a small club. It’s about clubs like Leicester being able to win our league or make the top four and then play in the Champions League. I couldn’t get my head around why we had signed up to it.

‘I have spoken to our owners, to Mike Gordon and John W. Henry and Tom Werner, on many occasions, and they are bright, knowledgeable, smart people who have done an awful lot of good things for the club, and I couldn’t marry up this plan with what I knew about them. 

‘I racked my brain trying to understand their approach, and what I would say is that, as owners, they have proved themselves to be innovative and brave enough to make the kind of decisions that others would shy away from because they are either too difficult or too unpopular. On most occasions, this has served them well, and we should remember that, but this time it was their undoing.

‘The day after the news broke we played at Elland Road and quickly became the focus of opposition to the ESL. Our coach was booed and there were shouts of “Scum!” when we arrived at the stadium. Liverpool fans held up a banner as the players got off the bus. ‘Love for the Working-Class Game Ruined by Greed and Corruption. Thanks for the Memories. RIP LFC.’

‘I was injured, and I wasn’t allowed to travel to Yorkshire because of Covid restrictions, but when the lads got into the dressing room Leeds had put T-shirts underneath every peg that had the words “Earn It” written on the front next to the Champions League logo. 

‘The Leeds players wore those shirts in the warm-up. I was angry about what was happening to our players and the way they were being targeted. It was as if it was the players who had come up with the idea and we were all behind it. 

The anger inside me grew about the way our players had been turned into targets. Things were getting deeply unpleasant for club staff too. They were being abused on their way into Anfield. 

‘At that point, I hadn’t heard anything from the people at FSG, the club’s owners, so I phoned Mike Gordon. The first thing he did was apologise for putting the players in this position. He also said that I and the rest of the players were free to say what we wanted about the Super League. We did not have to parrot a party line. There would be no repercussions for us if we spoke out against it.

‘Mike said he knew there were flaws in the proposals and that they had been released prematurely. He pointed out some of the issues FSG had with UEFA and with scheduling and he said they believed that if the plans had been presented properly, in time they could have benefited not just Liverpool but the English pyramid too.

‘Some of what he said made sense. It’s not as if the way everything is run at the moment is perfect. I’ve been outspoken about some of the issues myself. The number of games we’re asked to play, the way supporters are treated – these should be at the top of any reform agenda.

‘But with the Super League, there were three things in particular that I couldn’t get past. The first was the way it had been launched out of the blue. The second was the lack of any kind of consultation beforehand. And the third – and most important to me – was the failure to enshrine sporting integrity as an absolute principle. Nothing was going to change my mind about that.

‘We hadn’t had a home game at that point, but fans had left those banners outside the stadium to convey their disgust about what was happening. A lot of our players were against the plans and were coming under pressure from supporters to take a public stance. We had a players’ meeting and decided, as a group, to post a statement.

‘I said I would post it on my Twitter first so that, if there were going to be repercussions, they’d fall on me. Other players were free to repost it or not. The feeling was that even though some of us might be in discussions with the owners about contracts or whatever, this was more important. We were against the proposals on sporting merit, and we were going to say so.

‘I posted the statement up at 9pm on Tuesday. “We don’t like it and we don’t want it to happen,” our statement read. “This is our collective position. Our commitment to this football club and its supporters is absolute and unconditional. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

‘That evening, there had already been protests outside Stamford Bridge, and there were dramatic scenes when Petr Cech, who had an executive role at the club, went into the crowd to try to quell the unrest. 

‘There had already been reports that City were going to pull out of the project. It then became apparent that Chelsea had lost their nerve, too. The plan was falling apart. Two hours after we released our statement, FSG confirmed that they were pulling Liverpool out of the ESL too.

‘By the end of Tuesday night, every single one of the six English clubs involved in the European Super League plan had withdrawn and apologised to their supporters. The popular uprising by the supporters had shown again the power and the importance of the fans.

‘On Wednesday morning, the club owner John W. Henry released a video message attempting to draw a line under the whole affair and apologising to Jurgen, to Billy Hogan, the chief executive, to the players and to the fans.

‘This intervention was crucial. John W. Henry was one of the few who fronted up over the entire saga, and I think that is to be respected. Like everyone else, myself as much as anyone, FSG can and do make mistakes, but history has proved that they also learn from them.’

Source: Mail Sports