Leeds’ Super League T-shirt to feature in National Football Museum

One of the European Super League protest T-shirts worn by Leeds United ahead of their Premier League match against Liverpool last week is to be exhibited at the National Football Museum as part of its permanent collection.

Liverpool were one of six English clubs who had signed up to the breakaway project, which collapsed when most of the founders pulled out following strong criticism from fans, governing bodies and the government.

Leeds players came out for their warm-up for the game on April 19 wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, “Earn It” under the Champions League logo — a reference to the fact that the proposed 20-club Super League would have 15 permanent members who would automatically qualify every year.

The T-shirts also had the message, “Football Is For The Fans” printed at the back.

The game ended 1-1.

Laura Crossley, the National Football Museum’s Head of Content, said in a statement on the Leeds website https://www.leedsunited.com/news/team-news/28027/leeds-united-warm-up-t-shirt-acquired-by-national-football-museum they were delighted to get one of the T-shirts.

“We have a dynamic contemporary collecting programme and proactively acquire objects that record football history as it happens,” she added.

“News of the ESL provoked a strong reaction in fans and players across the country and we were keen to collect objects that will enable us to preserve and tell the story of this huge moment in football.”

Leeds said they planned to use the rest of the T-shirts to raise money for the club’s foundation.