Not sure if any of you saw in the news today, but the Accrington Stanley chairman had a bit of a go at the premier league. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/39857490 In responding, they had the sheer audacity to question whether "he wishes the Premier League to continue the support we currently provide for his and other clubs in the EFL." The cheek of it! As if they don't have an obligation! As if they're not destroying the very essence of the game itself! As if the solidarity payments they're giving are anywhere near enough when many football league clubs are struggling to survive! As if they don't have a ludicrous record tv rights deal. As if they don't have (and this is totally irrelevant) a sexist chief exec. If they actually did any good for the game, rather than use it as a cash cow with which to fill their pockets, I might understand. I feel like PS and all other football league chairman should stand together with Mr Holt and tell the PL where to stick it. Sorry, rant over...
I've stood my ground consistently against the Premier League for as long has i can remember, i've had to stand my corner and argue everything that is wrong with the game, in fact I could write a book on it. When I was a young lad, I never understood the arguments of politics in our game but as I grew older I began to realise there was a very bad undercurrent, one that was and has eventually taken our game and our social pleasures away, in return for greed. I stay short of the word corruption but it is certainly a word i would use to towards FIFA. Our game has become rotten at the top a billionaires paradise, but until the day i die i will remain vocal and stand up for what i believe in, with a passion. Stories like this just make my blood boil, I love clubs like Accrington Stanley, I watched them grow from the lower leagues, i have sat and watched them play while freezing my nuts off, their support is barely a few thousand but they like every other lower league club are the roots of our game. I've always said, I would even support Gillingham even if it was a non league club. I take great pride in things such as the National League and South and North, because with it's supporters it still holds that grit, determination and passion which has been lost at the top. The PL can get stuffed, well said Andy Holt!
The Premier League is interested in only one thing - money. They are not interested in football as a sport, merely as a vehicle for making money for themselves and their 'members'. Other than the full moniker of the company - THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION PREMIER LEAGUE LIMITED - the word 'football' is notably little used on a day to day basis. Have a look at their website and see how often football is mentioned other than the modus operandi of the company. Anything they do put back into the sport they do grudgingly and under objection wherever possible. Indeed the Strategic Report in the latest accounts states "The PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY (my capitals) of the Company is to manage the Premier League competition and to exploit broadcasting and other commercial rights granted to the Company by its member clubs for the benefit of the rights holders" According to my calculations using the figures in the article, this year the PL will make 'solidarity payments' totalling £129.12m to Championship and EFL clubs the equivalent of £6.456m per PL club. My interpretation of the article is that that figure is higher than in previous years, thanks mostly to the new TV deal. It is estimated that the prize money that will be paid to PL clubs this season will be about £146m to the champions, down to £97m to Sunderland in 20th place (reference http://www.totalsportek.com/money/premier-league-prize-money) Just to put a bit more perspective on the numbers, according to http://sillyseason.com/list/salaries/premier-league-wages-per-team-69064/ this seasons PL wage bill will be £1,933.7m In the meantime there is less and less incentive for FL clubs to invest heavily in academies because it is less and less likely that they will get a payday windfall from the sale of promising players to top flight clubs. And if the PL want to cut off my funding for this criticism then they're welcome to. Just remember where you came from.
