What an extraordinary 48 hours the football world experienced earlier this week.
Out of the blue we were faced with the prospect of a closed shop European Super League only to see it blasted out of the water by a surprisingly effective broadside of primarily fan and media power… and people who simply love football.
There was an all-round feeling that what had been proposed came down to little more than a brazen, greedy power grab.
It ended in an unbelievably humiliating U-turn by the 12 clubs, or rather chairmen involved, and quite an extraordinary climb down. How they misread the situation so badly is quite baffling. It won't be quickly forgotten.
At the time of writing, it seems unlikely the EPL clubs involved will suffer a points deduction. That would be punishing the wrong people, the players and managers who had nothing to do with the attempted breakaway.
The PR departments of these clubs will be working overtime for the remainder of the season trying to repair the damage -- it won't be easy.
The club owners displayed a massive misjudgment concerning the reaction and the power of the football community, not just in Europe, but the world at large.
Football has to be competitive with promotions and relegations, not a closed shop.
Let's just concentrate on the initial reaction when news of the Super League first came out.
The immediate backlash was so powerful it doomed the proposed league right from the start. It received a huge thumbs down from just about everybody in the sport.
I haven't seen the British football media so worked up about something since David Beckham had problems with his metatarsal back in 2002.
An impassioned TV response from Gary Neville saying he was "absolutely disgusted" set the tone. It was genuine outrage. Inevitably many leading politicians suddenly became football fans.
Headlines had a common "Football At War" theme as described by the Daily Mail.
Several newspapers used the term "Civil War" and for a moment you had to remind yourself it was just a sport they were referring to and not a military conflict.
The Mirror called it a "Criminal Act Against Fans'' while the Daily Express settled on "Shameful Threat To National Sport". Even the Times got involved with "Breakaway Plot Sparks Outrage".
But perhaps the most effective headline was the simplest, the Spanish sports newspaper AS coming up with "Bombazo" (Bombshell).
Supporters of the six Premier League sides were furious their clubs had been involved in what they interpreted as pure greed.
Their views were reflected in the local papers with a powerful "Shame On You" headline in the Manchester Evening News while the Liverpool Echo pondered "What Would Shanks Have Said?" -- a reference to the great football manager Bill Shankly who was always regarded as a man of the people.
Chelsea fans demonstrated against the breakaway league outside Stamford Bridge.
They were so pleased when it became apparent the whole thing was collapsing they did not seem bothered that their team were putting on a really uninspiring display in their goalless draw against Brighton.
If the headlines were strong, the columnists certainly didn't hold back either.
In the Mail, Martin Samuel termed the Super League as "A despicable, plastic competition that threatens the existence of English football."
Even stronger was Jonathan Liew's observations in the Guardian: "This is an idea that could only have been devised by someone who hates football to the bones. They want to prune it, gut it, dismember it, from the grassroots to the World Cup."
It was the "closed door" aspect of the Super League that prompted such a vociferous reaction.
There's no promotion or relegation, so what's the point of it? It's not sport. It's elitism at its most extreme.
There has been some contrition shown of course.
Arsenal quickly apologised to fans saying it was "a mistake" while Liverpool's American owner John Henry admitted "We've let you down… I alone am responsible".
This is not over by a long chalk. But it is a huge boost for supporters that their protests, without resorting to any violence, prove that fan power is still a potent weapon.
A final word from the Mail after it became clear that the Super League was doomed: "They Think It's All Over… It Is Now".