Slipped quietly into the arguments promoting the formation of April's doomed European Super League was a suggestion that the Premier League's "Big Six" were all on board. Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all signed up for the project that collapsed in a matter of days, as fans across Europe voiced their anger at the sheer arrogance of a plan to sacrifice genuine competition for unprecedented financial gain.
The idea that "founding member clubs" could never be relegated was partly predicated upon the presumption that an impregnable hierarchy already existed in each of the big European leagues.