Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has blasted the failed plans to launch a breakaway European Super League.
The proposals were confirmed last month by 12 founding member clubs, including United - who were one of the Premier League ’s so-called ‘big six’ to sign up to the plans.
One of the core principles of the league would have been that 15 planned founding members would automatically qualify for the tournament every season, with only five slots available for other clubs.
This created a huge backlash from fans which prompted a swift u-turn from the clubs involved, with all but three - Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus - distancing themselves from the plans and subsequently withdrawing from the tournament.
United’s Chief Executive Ed Woodward was reported to be one of the main driving figures behind the move, and subsequently announced he would be resigning from his role at the end of 2021 following the collapsed proposals.
Now, Ferguson has openly condemned the plans and cited his Cup Winners Cup triumph with Aberdeen as evidence of how damaging the removal of meritocracy in the sport would be.
The Scot said that the plans would have prevented such clubs from ‘fulfilling their dream’ and that it was against the essence of the sport.
Ferguson told the BBC: “As a player I played in European football for Rangers and Dunfermline. And then as a manager I took a provincial club, Aberdeen, and beat Real Madrid in the (1983 Cup Winners’ Cup) final in Gothenburg.
“That is a provincial club fulfilling their dream. Every club should have that dream to achieve what Aberdeen did.
“You cannot ever forget that the real reason for football was that the smallest guy can climb to the top of Everest, and that’s the best way I can put that. We can’t do without that, really.”
