AN ARDENT Arsenal fan, Vis Raghavan is understood to have been one of the people at JP Morgan advising the six big English clubs on potential breakaway European Super League in April of this year.

When news broke of these clubs’ involvement – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham – all hell broke loose – even prime minister Boris Johnson, not known to follow the game, came out against it and the clubs themselves saw protests and furious calls to radio stations – as it dominated the air waves far beyond the nation’s sports radio stations and TV channels.

The plan underwritten by some £3.5bn funding from the bank was to create a new league with the likes of other European giants – Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus and AC Milan and a few others to break away from UEFA and its Champions League competition to something run by these clubs, which would retain their elite league status in perpetuity.

To anyone who has followed the game – the idea seemed preposterous – the ups and owns of following a side are what binds fans everywhere together – the common experience of winning and losing and going up and down a league with the threat of relegation ever present.

In a league where your status was preserved forever – seemed to strike at the very idea of competition and united fans in England normally more comfortable and used to throwing insults at each other. The bank itself realised the error of its way – on paper and commercially, it must have looked very attractive and the feeling on the street might have been – well, it’s an American investment bank, what do they know understand football?

The bank called it a mis-step and issued an apology.