How important is the Europa League to British clubs?

Tonight’s Europa league quarter finals contain zero British participants. All the money in Manchester City and the legendary history of Liverpool, neither of the two could reach this stage. Rangers also failed to progress to the quarters, although their disaster finances and limited squad excuses their absence.

It begs the question “How serious do the bigger clubs rate this tournament??” It seems all football clubs rate the importance of a tournament based on the financial gain and the Europa league is clearly lacking in financial reward. Europa league coverage is ignored completely by Sky TV and when Sky aren’t involved the finances are absent. Although football clubs need money to exist, they also rely largely on their fans. Surely fans would want some kind of European glory, even if it is the second tier competition.

Clearly the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City believe they’re too good for this tournament and it’s not worth giving it their all. However they are both incapable of winning their domestic leagues, surely any silverware is better than none. Fans should not accept these half-hearted performances from their beloved clubs and the clubs should remember that “football is nothing without fans” as the legendary Jock Stein once said.

By Ryan Muldoon