Burnley defender Ben Mee has revealed the Super League debacle has helped to unite the captains of the 20 Premier League clubs and has slammed the breakaway league proposal.
Football was recently thrown into turmoil as 12 of Europe's elite sides committed to joining the Super League, though the plans lasted little more than 48 hours as the majority of the competition's participants began to withdraw.
Mee said he and his teammates were on the team bus following their defeat to Manchester United when the news broke of the plans and that they were 'furious' at the announcement.
The Burnley man revealed he's part of a WhatsApp group consisting of all the Premier League's club captains, and the Super League saga along with the initiative to help the NHS last year has helped bring the 20 clubs together.
"You know things are serious when Jordan Henderson sends a message to the Premier League captains’ WhatsApp group," he wrote in a piece with The Guardian.
"The captains are willing to put rivalries aside and speak to one another, something that I do not think would have happened before last year.
"We like to think we have made a positive impact with this and our money-raising for the NHS, and hopefully we can continue to do so on a wide range of topics for the better of the game and society."
Mee vented his anger at the Super League proposal, adding that the players are fans just as much as anyone else and that the severity of the situation wasn't lost on them.
"We are not just players, we are football fans who have grown up with the sport and know what it means to people in the stands and at home," he said. "We are the lucky ones, living out our childhood dreams and those of the people who pay their hard-earned money each weekend to watch teams play.
"Footballers play for the fans, not people in boardrooms. No one scores a goal or makes a last-ditch tackle to earn the praise of the owners.
"They do it for the feeling they get when the crowd roars. The feeling of elation when we win is the same as it was as a kid, something those who know little about football cannot relate to."
The Clarets captain alluded to chairman of the Super League, Florentino Perez, and while he laughed at Perez's suggestion that 90 minute games are too long, he had a very simple summary for how the breakaway competition idea was spawned.
"Perez sounds like someone who is a little bit desperate to earn his money for a club in a lot of debt," he said.
Couldn't have put it better ourselves, Ben.
Source : 90min