Today we’re talking about the business of European football with one of the most experienced and respected people working in the industry today. Phil Carling started his career as Arsenal’s first ever head of marketing before moving to head up the commercial department of the FA. Since 2004, Carling has been head of football for the sports marketing agency Octagon, managing their clients relationship with clubs, leagues and governing bodies around Europe and beyond.

So Phil was my first call when the story broke revealing a plot among some of Europe’s big clubs to launch a European Premier League initially at least endorsed by Fifa and underwritten by $6billion of JPMorgan’s money. This is the latest of many threatened rebel competitions to have appeared over the course of the last three decades. I want to why the story has become such a regular feature of sports business conversation, why this one appeared now, what happened to the previous incarnations and where was Phil Carling the first time he heard rumours of a European breakaway.

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