Money Money Money
If Ron is silly enough to allow me to have a blog, he’s gonna have to put up with my rant first and foremost. It’s about money in football. Once I start on this subject it’s often difficult to shut me up - ask my colleagues in the office, ask the FA (yes I have written to them about this), ask my wife (actually she is the one person who does get me to shut up, usually by putting her I-pod on…). But since you are reading this you can either just stop or carry on “listening”. At the end of the day its Ron’s site, so he gets the blame in my opinion.
When I was a lad (god I must be getting old if I start things with expressions like that), football was about players. You bought some, you sold some, managers made some better players and failed with others. It was an expensive game but effectively the game was run by double glazing salesmen made good in sheepskin coats and it was a hobby. A hobby that millions of us were all involved in and cared about of course, but you always felt you had a chance. Get promoted - who knows, with a bit of luck you could win a cup, or challenge for the league - Wimbledon were the prime example of that.
Football changed for good back in 1992 and in my opinion it didn’t change for the better. One of my favourite questions is “Who were London’s top team the first year of the Premier league”. Of course we know the answer - most other people don’t - Arsenal is the most popular answer, followed by Chelsea. For the record Spuds were the second highest.
Three teams from the first premier League aren’t even in the Championship next season - Leeds, Forest and Oldham and Wimbledon doesn’t exist anymore Ten clubs have had serious financial difficulties since that date, which is almost 50%. In addition since the premiership started numerous little clubs have fallen on desperate times, culminating in Scarborough going out of business last week (I still remember the days when beefy Botham played for them).
I have nothing against the concept of the top teams getting the best prizes. I understand that the team that wins should get the most prize money - fair enough, but the FA seem smitten with the idea put forward by Manure, Arsenil, the Red Scousers and of course Chle$ki that winning the European Cup is more important than the state of British clubs. Michael Ballack’s wages for a week would have saved Scarborough and his monthly ages would also save Wrexham and York, the next most likely clubs to go to the wall.
The obscene amount of money the premiership makes and keeps to itself will be the death of football in time. Next season we all know which three teams will finish in the top three, only the order of the top two is up for debate. The most interesting thing will be how Arsenil react to losing Henry. Whoppydo.
In the Championship we very nearly had the case that the three that came down went back up again. Interest in the sport will dwindle. It’s happened in the US with NHL and to a lesser extent Baseball and Basketball. In these days of multi-sport satellite telly people will find something else to watch. I’m not talking about those of us on this board, we have football in our veins but the kids will get bored and the kids are our future.
There was a banner at a Brighton games recently (during the will they wont they saga of their planning permission). It said “Roses are red, BHA are blue, the FA only care about 20, but we care about 92. Well said sir.
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