EVERYONE made their point on the TV and radio, got their likes from Facebook and Twitter, but who in football is really going to stand up and make sure the European Super League never becomes a reality?

Leading figures are lining up to condemn the greed which is clearly behind the vile breakaway of 12 clubs to form their own midweek competition.

But exactly who among them is capable of stopping the oligarchs, the venture capitalists and the Middle Eastern heads of state from doing exactly what they want?

UEFA, the Football Association and the Premier League theoretically have the sway to make an example of the clubs involved and said they are united against a “cynical project”.

Can you see the Premier League flexing its muscles and docking points from Arsenal, Chelsea et al because they have signed up to another competition against their will? Nope, nor can I.

The whole plan shows nothing but contempt for supporters, and it is also worth pointing out that players and managers have been equally disregarded. This whole circus has come this far without any of them being consulted, which shows you just how much they are valued by the people pushing this product and having the gall to pretend it is for the good of the game and not their own pockets.

The only way the ‘Bix Six’ can be taught a lesson is if fans, sponsors and media companies turn their back on those involved. Alas, another pipe dream.

People screamed ‘boycott’ when the Premier League (often referred to at the time as the Super League) was being discussed at the start of the 90s, and three decades later we are boasting about having the best domestic football product on the planet.

Sky and BT have pulled out the stops to condemn the ESL, presumably with no plans yet in place to screen its games. One wonders if an agreement is struck down the line if Gary Neville and Co will be allowed to rant at such length?

The incredibly sad truth is that change will happen. Tempers will fade, fans eventually fall in line and pay their money. And if they don’t, a new conditioned market will replace them.

There is a whole generation of football supporters who cannot remember the days when football was a working-class sport played at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, and they are now streaming games and playing FIFA 2021 with their own kids.

The timing of last night’s statement establishing the ESL’s formation was quite deliberate, coming on the eve of UEFA’s plan to present a new expanded format for the Champions League to their executive committee. And if any more cynicism was needed in this grimy saga, you may suggest the whole thing is merely a ploy to get a bigger slice of that financial pie.

Project Big Picture was a similarly outlandish and revolutionary idea in the summer which was quickly batted down by all and sundry but nevertheless it did break down the door to allow changes to rules on online streaming and TV scheduling last year. And that door is unlikely to close again.

Football is heading for a shake-up and for all the soapbox-standing and lip service given to how important fans are to the game, the leading figures are quite content to allow money to drive its direction and have been for a long, long time.

We have stood on that side of the fence at Bolton Wanderers. In fact, the chairman of the club actually championed a ‘closed shop’.

We all remember Phil Gartside’s paper proposing a two-tier Premier League with Rangers, Celtic, no relegation and all the trimmings.

The late Bolton chairman was 100 per cent right about his fear that foreign money was about to change football irrecoverably and put into danger any club that drops into the Championship.

Of course, his plan was primarily about self-preservation for the Boltons and the Wigan Athletics that were – at that time in history – still dining at the top table.

Bolton are now on the opposite side of that fence, only now correcting their course after being kicked several gardens down by years of mismanagement and bad ownership.

They have an ownership which has talked openly about reconnecting with the community and creating financial stability and some success on the pitch this season would make a hugely rewarding homecoming for supporters in the summer.

Bolton are no longer at the forefront of the argument but their modern day equivalents could still play a part.

The likes of Southampton, Crystal Palace, Sheffield United, Brighton and Burnley would have been frozen out by Gartside’s plan all those years ago – yet if they can muster enough fight between them, they may have enough power to maintain the status quo for the time being.

I won’t hold my breath.