Not sure that "bullying fans" is true,Scott, but,taking advantage of their loyalty and commitment,certainly is. What would happen if next season, the vast majority of fans' said,"enough is enough",voted with their feet,and stayed away? Really like the cap,swimaway.
It's an interesting one, Vetch. I read a book called "Theatre of Silence" about the demise of the old football fan, and the rise of the "new fan" (amongst other things, good book!) in which it was saying how football is, to a lot of "new" fans, viewed like the opera, or the cinema or any other form of visual entertainment. While I appreciate this sentiment is probably has a lot more truth to it when it comes to the "Big" clubs (Manyoo, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea...Liverpool I'd exclude because I think they've remained a little more in touch [possibly through lack of winning anything!]) but it's definitely something that's spreading. People going to grounds expecting to be entertained, not to support the clubs. I think it's getting to a tipping point where it doesn't matter if anyone who remembers terraces says "stuff it I'll stay away" because, at PL level certainly, there'll always be someone else to take your seat... as so eloquently and frustrating demonstrated by the difficulty in getting Swans tickets this year!
a wages cap is the answer, it works in Germany and would work here, but it must be across the board, It would stop players going for the money and give British players more of a chance of reaching the top. the 4 home nations would also benefit in the long run, all premiership clubs should have a cap on how many foreign players they are allowed in a season just like some countries are now doing. football will soon be a rich man's sport if something is not done about it and there is a need to do something now. The price that clubs charge now are getting out of hand and ridiculous to say the least.....clubs are to greedy, the players are too greedy and things are starting to catch up where families are suffering with lack of money to be able to afford to go to a 90 minute match. how much longer can the public take before they say enough is enough and only go to selected matches or even not go at all........
I think the key in Germany is more that the clubs aren't allowed to run into debt! Also, when tickets for Bundesliga matches went up to 20E (I think) all the fans mounted a strike in protest. Makes you laugh eh!
Just to pick up a coupla points... I agree that something needs to be done (and a wages cap is an option, I suppose), but as far as the German system goes, the Bundesliga is ****. As far as "giving more British players a chance", they wouldn't get any more skilful, just because we paid less to foreigners. On the subject of foreigners, there is already a cap on the number of players a club can have from overseas. As for ticket prices, you're spot on. I think the prices the Swans charge should be about as high as they go. The stories I was hearing from Arsenal fans on the way home after going to the Emirates about their season ticket prices was nothing short of scary. I think the biggest problem is not player greed, but the silliness that comes from having multi-billionaire owners who don't understand how clubs and supporters feel about the club. They are also completely out of touch of what should be paid to and for players. Now that is something that the FA and FIFA could actually do something about. Have a far more rigorous system of checking who wants to own a club and why. No more Peter Ridsdales, no more Tony Fernandez, no more Sheik Mansour, Roman Abramovic, etc. That way, it stays with the richest men on the planet if the richest man on the planet can prove that he genuinely loves the club and supported it from when he was six!
I think the word 'defenders' is missing from the sentence: It's supposed to say 'Fulham defenders chasing Sinclair and Dyer' It's just a brief glance of the near future
re the salary cap - league and aussie rules have one in place over here where players can earn x amount however some endorsments etc are not included. Melb Storm (League) rorted the system by having a double set of books for 3 years i think before they were caught and stripped of premierships and several other clubs have been fined for breaches. it is a good move to try and make a competition more even but when 5 players from a squad of 25 take 50% of the cap it doesnt leave much room for manouvering. i shudder to think what the cap would be in the PL when you see players getting 250,000 a week however it might work as they would prob leave than take a dramatic pay cut and weaken the PL for certain sides but in another way it might improve the young english players who are struggling to get a game - catch 22 imo
