Outgoing Manchester United chief Ed Woodward has reiterated the club’s apology for the controversial failed European Super Legaue proposal.
United were one of the ‘Big Six’ Premier League clubs who signed up to the ESL, only for the proposed elite league to be binned just 48 hours after its launch.
Executive Vice-Chairman Woodward and other senior United figures met with the club’s Fans’ Forum this morning to discuss concerns related to the abandoned proposals for the ESL.
Woodward, who also said United will not seek to revive the ESL, said: “We will provide as many answers as we can today but, mostly, we want to listen.
“It’s clear we did not do enough of that before the Super League decision. Today is our first step towards putting that right.
“You will all have read Joel Glazer’s open letter to fans last week, apologising for the Super League decision and I would like to add my personal apology to this Forum.
“I know that you will feel angry and let down by the lack of consultation and by the way the proposal failed to recognise the vital principle of open competition. Proper discussion would have helped us avoid the mistake we made.
“While there would have been a substantial increase in solidarity payments from the leading clubs to the rest of the pyramid across Europe, we fully accept that there were fundamental elements which were badly misjudged.
“As Joel said last week, we failed to give enough weight to the essential principles and traditions of sporting merit which are so vital to football not just in domestic competition but in European competition since the mid-1950s.
“We want to restate our commitment to those traditions. I can assure you that we have learned our lesson from the events of the past week and we do not seek any revival of the Super League plans.
“ Manchester United is fortunate to be in a relatively stronger position than many clubs because of the resilience of our self-sustaining model.
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“We have a disciplined, long-term approach which has allowed us to navigate the pandemic, while continuing to invest in the team, which we will continue to do this summer.
“We will now continue working with the rest of the football community to address the long-term challenges facing the game.
“But I can assure you that we will be doing that with great sensitivity to the opinions that you and other fans have expressed in recent days.”
