Thank you, Leicester, for another fairy tale: Richard Buxton
Foxes' FA Cup win is a victory for football and repudiation of failed Super League
Leicester City are proof that fairy tales remain possible even in this most bizarre of seasons.
Dreams have again come true at the King Power following their unexpected 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley yesterday morning (Singapore time).
Brendan Rodgers dedicated the Foxes' triumph in the world's most famous club cup competition to their players, fans and owner - but his side also won for the game itself.
Neutrals rooted for them against Thomas Tuchel's well-oiled machine not solely due to the David v Goliath narrative, nor their remarkable journey, where unforeseen success coexisted alongside the heartbreaking tragedy of Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha's death.
Being an antithesis to the European Super League fuelled their ongoing feel-good story.
Less than a month has passed since their Wembley opponents and five other English top-flight teams plotted to destabilise football by signing up to the long-threatened breakaway.
Misguidedly, they and the rest of the "dirty dozen" believed this was exactly what the masses wanted; to gorge themselves on star-studded match-ups every midweek.
If those same 12 had got their way, moments like this would become a thing of the past.
Uefa might have treated the English Premier League's sinful six with remarkable leniency for their grotesque machinations, but the battle lines have been drawn over the failed scheme and will continue to rage in both the months and years ahead.
WIDENING GULF
Had it succeeded, the already super-rich would have become obscenely more so and left those with comparatively modest resources, like Leicester, trailing in their wake.
On the face of it, a close-run contest between the EPL's third and fourth-placed teams may appear to be a sign of the times. But Rodgers' players are in their current domestic position on merit rather than by flinging money at stellar names.
Barring another capitulation before the finish line, they will be pairing a first FA Cup win in their club's 137-year history with qualification for next season's Champions League.
Leicester's attempts to gatecrash the established order in the past five years, however, would have been stifled in its infancy by the Super League's figureheads.
The bloated vision for a closed shop did not make allowances for such unsanctioned plot twists.
Ironically, it was their 5,000-1 surge to the EPL title in 2016 which sparked the short-lived bid to skew the footballing landscape further in favour of the elite. They were painted as a growing inconvenience that needed to be curbed instead of empowered.
Yet the sight of Vichai's son Aiyawatt, commonly known as Top, celebrating with Rodgers and his jubilant squad showed the beauty of football which exists beyond the transatlantic bean counters at Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal - the driving forces behind the Super League.
The Thai benefactor is a rarity in the modern game as an owner who sinks not just finances but also his heart and soul into a club that represents more than a business.
Rodgers has experienced first hand the perils of working for paymasters with little regard for the personal touch, having seen his Anfield tenure unceremoniously ended by a phone call from 5,000km away, mere hours after taking charge of his last match.
For the Northern Irishman, as much as his current employers, this vindicated the sense of community that has been fostered at the King Power during the previous decade.
Leicester's success is testament to a belief in process rather than profits. The Super League cabal should fear other teams on the right side of history following their lead.
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