The death knell for football as we know it was sounded last night, with plans for the 'big six' football clubs of England to break away and form their own European Super League, guaranteeing their places in a lucrative money-making machine.

I, like many people, consider football to be more than a game. It runs in our blood.

Throughout my childhood, some of the best memories I have was going to my town's football club's games. The team, managed by my dad, weren't professional and all of them went along to keep fit and have fun with friends. I used to go as a ball boy, spending all of my Saturday afternoons having fun watching football and playing on the pitch with my friends before and after the game.

When I was a teenager and allowed more independence, I remember how a group of us used to get the train up to Plymouth every home game, to watch our local team Argyle, the team I support to this day. It was the highlight of my week.

Summer or winter, rain or shine, home or away, it's what characterised my childhood. Grassroots clubs have already had it tough in the last year because of Covid, the lack of fans and the general economic turmoil. But last night was different.

Like most other football fans, I reacted in disbelief when I heard the news reports on Sunday. This had been talked about for many years, but surely it wasn't actually going to happen? Then just after 11pm, my phone buzzed and I was, and still am, in shock that the six biggest clubs in our national sport had decided to throw away hundreds of years of what made them who they are. They turned their backs on fans like us, some even too cowardly to Tweet the news story out to tell their fans.

No consultation, no compromise, just pure bargaining for guaranteed access to the big bucks. Arsenal, for example, are ninth in their own domestic league. Tottenham haven't won a trophy in god knows how long. On footballing merits in 2020-21, Leicester and West Ham deserve to be in this "Super League" ahead of them, a format which I think might catch on somehow.

Football has given so much joy to me, but also taken it away. I remember going to Wembley a few years back to watch Argyle in a play-off final, a chance for promotion back to League One. The nervous excitement was something no author can do justice by putting into words. The sense of belonging, which I also felt watching England in the 2018 World Cup. Believing we could win, based on our own merits, not how big our bottom line is.

But it can also take it away. Argyle lost in the play-off final convincingly. England were heartbreakingly knocked out in the semi-finals. Personally, I was playing football on the school field at 13 years of age when someone slide tackled me, missed the ball completely and broke both bones in my leg. It's an injury I still live with the consequences of today. But that didn't dent my love for the game.

If this tournament does go ahead, all that raw emotion stops. The excitement, the pain, the heartbreak, the nervousness, the joy. The champions don't deserve to be there, they simply bought their way there. The beauty of football is the underdog story, remember when Leicester won the league? There was more chance of you winning the lottery, according to the bookies.

And that right there is what our sport loses if this goes ahead. It doesn't matter if Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal or whoever else wins the inaugural competition. They didn't qualify for it on merit, their owners completed a sporting coup d'etat to be the judge and jury of its own unsanctioned cup.

Let's be honest, we know there's so many things about our game that can be better. VAR - I support it in principle, but the way it's working at the moment is embarrassing. Finances - so much needs to be done to protect our lower and non league clubs, like my team Argyle and also Basingstoke Town, clubs at the hearts of their communities. The shambles that have surrounded FIFA and UEFA in recent years have left a lot to be desired.

But this is not the answer. We, the real football fans, will be left picking up the pieces of our beautiful game, that has been shattered into a million pieces by the big boys.