TV host and West Ham fan James Corden delivered a passionate speech opposing the European Super League on his American chat show last night.

Corden opened The Late Late Show with an emotional monologue denouncing the plans, describing the proposals by 12 major European clubs for a breakaway league as “disgusting”.

The six Premier League clubs involved have faced a widespread backlash over plans to form a breakaway European Super League, with ex-footballers, fans and politicians condemning the move.

We talked about the #SuperLeague on the show tonight. pic.twitter.com/6n40FlkNsA

Corden became the latest to voice his opposition, saying that the “monumental” announcement outraged him.

“I’m heartbroken by it, genuinely heartbroken by it. I’m heartbroken because the owners of these teams have displayed the worst kind of greed I have ever seen in sport,” Corden said.

Corden, who was born in London and has hosted Sky One’s A League of Their Own since 2010, said British football teams were historical institutions with working-class roots – comparatively different from franchises in US sport.

He compared the Super League, which would allow the 12 founding members access on a historical basis rather than on merit, to an imagined scenario where A-list actors Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Saoirse Ronan and Viola Davies broke away from the Oscars.

Corden criticised the owners of Manchester United, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Barcelona for taking the game away from fans.

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He said: “It’s hard to express how much communities rely on football, not just financially, which is considerable, but football is a focal point of a towns hopes and dreams.

“These dreams, they’ve just been shattered not just in Britain, across Europe. And the reason the dreams have been shattered and discarded is so that a group of billionaires can buy themselves a bigger boat or a second boat.

“Football is a working-class game where anyone can beat anyone on their day and it’s that that makes it incredible, it’s that that’s made it a global force.”

Corden added that the Super League would stop another fairy-tale triumph like Leicester City’s Premier League title win in 2016.

He added: “And if this happens, and unfortunately I really do think it will, I don’t want to be overdramatic, but I do think it’s the end of the sport that we love.”

The uncertainty so valued by fans makes owning a sporting institution risky, which is why the clubs want a closed-shop league.

Corden urged fans to remember the names of the owners who made the decision, saying: “Don’t ever forget that it was them, those owners.

“They took something so pure and so beautiful and they beat the love and the joy out of it and they did it for money. They just did it for money. And it’s disgusting.”

Corden’s outrage came shortly after former England captain and Inter Miami owner David Beckham expressed his opposition on Instagram to the Super League.

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On the post, he said: “I know that sport is nothing without the fans. We need football to be for everyone. We need football to be fair and we need competitions based on merit.

“Unless we protect these values the game we love is in danger.”

A post shared by David Beckham (@davidbeckham)

AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur are all revealed as founding members of the Super League, securing vast financial rewards for themselves at a time when profits have taken a hit.

The Super League’s chairman, Florentino Perez, has defended the plans, saying that it will “save football“.

The proposal has received criticism from fans, former and current footballers and politicians.

Last night, Sky Sports pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher voiced their opposition to the plans, as did Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Reds player James Milner.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to host a round table with representatives from football’s governing bodies, including the FA and the Premier League.

The new Super League is about putting more power and money in the hands of the most elite, says Sky's sports correspondent.

The PM promised football fans prior to the meeting he will do everything possible to give the “ludicrous” new league a “straight red”.

He spent much of Monday saying he wanted to make sure the new league did not go ahead “in the way it’s currently being proposed”.

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