Football Going to Hell in a Handcart....again

"When the league does well, other people in the football family do well in terms of redistribution. We feel it is a very positive thing".
Do they indeed? Well thats what Richard Scudamore chief executive of the Premier League seems to think. But on the day that AFC Bournemouth were forced into administration by HM Revenue & Customs it is somewhat unbelievable to take in the news that the Premier League have plans to play an extra round of matches.......in other countries just for the money. There is no other reason but money, surely the time has come to say enough is enough. How have lower league clubs benefitted by the growth of the premier league? This latest announcement severely threatens the whole ethos of football in this country, what was once a working class game has been hijacked and ultimately stolen from the common man by corporate greed and The Football Association has given its provisional support to the plans.
"We understand the reasons for this proposal and the benefits it can bring to English football as a whole," said an FA source. What they should be supporting are teams such as Luton Town and Bournemouth who through whatever fault are up the creek without a paddle or even a canoe.

My father played for Bournemouth & Boscombe FC as they were known then in the 1950s, and Notts County in the 60s, He was lucky if he picked up ten quid a week, to do that he'd have to score in a victory to collect the bonuses that found their way into his boot while he was in the bath after the game. He'd be absolutely incensed at this latest proposal. Many ex-players I speak to are completely dumbfounded and rightly enough quite bitter about the current crop of footballers and the riches that even ordinary players can accumulate just by being a premier league player.

I reckon most English football fans will be totally against this latest plan to destroy the integrity of football in this country, I mean real fans those that actually put their hands in their pockets and pay for their tickets, not the corporate football goer who uses the firms box at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford or watches the game on Sky. One tournament, The European Cup which this country has had a fantastic pedigree, Manchester United, Forest, Villa and Liverpool all winners has gone, irretrieveably. Now called The Champions League (which should really be named the "Runners-Up League") has already eroded the special magic of the European Cup, how we used to look forward to it, home and away ties played on a Wednesday night between the teams that actually came first in each countries top division. All gone now I'm afraid, games on a Tuesday and Wednesday and teams who come fourth, way way back in fourth in the case of Liverpool have even won the thing, what a ridiculous concept.

So the lure of even more filthy lucre for the top teams will take football ever further away from the real football fan, I know people who can't afford to go and watch their beloved team anymore, it's just too expensive, somwhere between £30 and £50 a go in the Premier League.
This greed inspired treachery of the pound sign will no doubt see the so called big four playing in Osaka or Dubai, an extra game? what utter nonsense, how can this extra game count for anything in a league season? And heaven forbid what if it's a success? where will it lead to then. Twenty teams play each other home and away thats 38 games, nice and symmetrical, mathematically and ethically correct. So who plays who in the thirty-ninth game? Middlesbrough v Blackburn in Melbourne, no disrespect but it's not the greatest attraction, only four teams can play against the "so called big four" and those that are left will be the second tier of this global cash-grab.

I am saddened and disgusted by this proposal to sell the English game as a global product, a brand it's far more than that, it's an institution, a belief, a religion for some but while the game is controlled by money it will inevitably want more. The rich get rich and the strong grow stronger while the Bournemouths of this world who cannot afford to pay their tax bill and other creditors, have to lay off staff who will get no parachute payment from the Premier League and have points deducted, which will no doubt serve as the final nail in the coffin of a season that has been a struggle but lets hope it's not the end of the club. English Football needs the lower leagues to be strong and supported by the big boys, far more than they are at present, the Premier League should be made responsible for taking these smaller clubs under their wing, help them to grow, loan out players yes but pay their wages don't make the financially struggling club pay them.

I urge you to take up your pens and write to the Premier League, the BBC, your local or national newspaper and even your MP, lets try and take football back for the sake of our game and our national team because more television and global exposure will lead to more foreign imports taking places in teams that home grown players should be filling.

The Premiership Flying Circus should be set adrift to ride around the globe on their magic carpet of banknotes, we will be better off without it.