‘We want to EARN the right to play Barcelona!’ Ian Wright takes aim at Arsenal’s owners for signing up to closed shop European Super League after Josh Kroenke was told ‘English football is clearly not for you’ at stormy fans’ forum
- Ian Wright has blasted Arsenal’s owners over European Super League plans
- Gunners among six Premier League clubs who signed up to breakaway league
- Director Josh Kroenke felt the anger of supporters at fans’ forum on Thursday
- And club legend Wright said on Twitter idea of a closed shop league was wrong
- He said the club had to earn the right to play Barcelona in elite competitions
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has taken aim at the club’s owners over their wish to join a closed shop European Super League, saying the right to play the best teams must be earned.
It came after club director Josh Kroenke, the son of unpopular American owner Stan, felt the wrath of supporters at a stormy fans’ forum on Thursday.
Arsenal were among the 12 founder clubs in the controversial breakaway competition announced on Sunday night but, like the other five Premier League clubs involved, withdrew on Tuesday.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has blasted the club’s owners for wanting to sign them up to a closed shop European Super League competition
Addressing club director Josh Kroenke, the son of owner Stan Kroenke, Wright said that the club should have to earn the right to play Europe’s best teams
Kroenke was told by prominent Arsenal Supporters Trust member Akhil Vyas at the forum: ‘Do you understand English football? You do not interact with fans. You have no clue.
‘English football is clearly not for you. You should leave.’
And former striker Wright, who scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for the club between 1991 and 1998, also took aim at the Kroenke family.
He responded to a tweet saying that Arsenal have been in decline for some years and their access into the Super League was a ‘cheat code’ back to the top table – but it was a source of pride that fans of the club had rejected this.
Wright wrote: ‘This is what Josh doesn’t understand!! We want to play Barcelona but we want to EARN the right to play Barcelona!!!’
The European Super League would have been a sealed competition for its dozen or more founder members, meaning they couldn’t be demoted from it for at least two decades.
Arsenal’s American owners wanted the club to be part of the new breakaway Super League
Arsenal take on Lionel Messi and Barcelona in the Champions League back in 2016
Arsenal last played Barcelona in 2016, in the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League, but the club’s decline has been such they haven’t even qualified for the competition for the past four seasons.
They look set for another mid-table finish this season under Mikel Arteta though they could still make next season’s Champions League by winning the Europa League.
Popular TV pundit Wright came out strongly against the idea of a Super League when it was announced at the weekend, describing it as ‘absolutely shameful.’
Retweeting the club’s statement saying ‘We are one of 12 Founding Clubs of the European Super League’, Wright tweeted: ‘Absolutely shameful.’
Accompanying the tweet was a GIF of Wright himself saying ‘Remember who you are, what you are and why you represent. That’s what Arsenal’s about.’
Arsenal legend Ian Wright slammed the club’s announcement as ‘absolutely shameful’
Later in the week, Wright said that Arsenal legend David Rocastle would be ‘turning in his grave’ over the European Super League proposals.
‘I literally can’t believe it when I saw Arsenal’s name come up on the screen as one of the teams,’ he said.
‘This is the same Arsenal that only a couple of weeks ago was commended for the tribute to David Rocastle.
‘God, the man would be turning in his grave knowing what is going on now. Is this how far we have fallen?’
Arsenal fans protested against the Super League outside the Emirates Stadium this week
‘Is this how far we have fallen?,’ Wright added. ‘We are now are getting into competitions [this way] because we’re not good enough to get into them, For the detriment of the English game, we are getting a seat at a table we have no right to be at.
‘It’s shameful. As a player, I’m worrying that ‘if I play in this competition that I can’t play in the Euros, the World Cup…’
‘Where is the competition in this? Why haven’t we seen exactly how this will work – not that I want to, because I totally disagree with it.
‘Where’s the jeopardy? Who goes down? Who wins? What do they win? Are we supposed to play these great teams on a weekly basis?’
