The north is being cut adrift in English football - and I fear the damage may be permanent Gary Neville: The struggles of clubs in the north-east and Merseyside - and the decline of Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday - should worry all football fans please log in to view this image please log in to view this image By Gary Neville A North-South divide is developing in English football that reflects the drift in economic power towards London. I worry that the north of England will end up with only a token presence in the Premier League - with Manchester as an island in a sea of decline. This week Newcastle were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Sheffield Wednesday reserves and Liverpool struggled to beat Carlisle. Those two events are hardly proof of a crisis. But there is a much bigger trend across Lancashire, Yorkshire and the north-east. London has always been the economic and political centre of the country but Merseyside, Manchester and the north-east were the footballing hothouses. Manchester is the one that’s held its own. Elsewhere there are clear signs of distress. During rehearsals for Monday Night Football two weeks ago, before West Ham v Newcastle, I was looking at the Newcastle team, thinking: that’s not a Newcastle United side. ... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...l-and-I-fear-the-damage-may-be-permanent.html
A North-South divide is developing in English football that reflects the drift in economic power towards London. I worry that the north of England will end up with only a token presence in the Premier League - with Manchester as an island in a sea of decline. This week Newcastle were knocked out of the Capital One Cup by Sheffield Wednesday reserves and Liverpool struggled to beat Carlisle. Those two events are hardly proof of a crisis. But there is a much bigger trend across Lancashire, Yorkshire and the north-east. London has always been the economic and political centre of the country but Merseyside, Manchester and the north-east were the footballing hothouses. Manchester is the one that’s held its own. Elsewhere there are clear signs of distress. During rehearsals for Monday Night Football two weeks ago, before West Ham v Newcastle, I was looking at the Newcastle team, thinking: that’s not a Newcastle United side. I then started to think about what’s happening to them, then Sunderland, then the north of England as a whole. At Newcastle things are desperate. At Sunderland – also desperate. I know people argue that London props up the rest of the country up – but I don’t accept that. Yet the surge in economic influence towards London might now be reflected in football. We’ve seen the demise of Premier League clubs in Yorkshire, with Hull going down last year, and Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday becoming marginalised. When I was growing up, trips to Elland Road and Hillsborough were among the biggest. They were FA Cup semi-final venues. They had a big club feel, as did Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland. Newcastle are synonymous with passionate fans and small boys in No 9 shirts. I can remember our 5-0 defeat in an age when Newcastle could call on the likes of Shearer, David Ginola and Philippe Albert. It was a team of wonder goals and top foreign players. Sunderland had the Roker Roar. Where is that now? Their supporters will hate the loss of that reputation. I remember us losing a game at Sunderland and Adrian Heath and Peter Reid refusing to give me the ball back on the touchline – and the slanging match that ensued. It was a horrible place to play because of the passion bursting out of the ground. Now, I get the feeling the squad is riddled with people who can’t wait to get the first train out of there after the match. I can go to Crystal Palace now and hear far more passion than at Sunderland. They still turn up in their droves but there is no longer the same bond. The atmosphere of a Turf Moor and Burnden Park has also slipped away. I wonder what huge event could possibly restore what’s been lost at these clubs. I can’t see one – and that’s what concerns me most. please log in to view this image Sunderland fans have had it tough When was the last time a really top player played at Newcastle, or Sunderland, or signed for one of those clubs? Does any top player now want to go and live in Newcastle or Sunderland or Middlesbrough? That’s not being disrespectful. My opinion of them is as great football cities, with fantastic people, who are having the life sucked out of them. What’s becoming most important to today’s player is not the culture or history of a club but the location, for the family, and the distance back to where they want to live (the pay packet is also a huge factor, of course). On a macro level the world’s top four or five players prefer to be in Spain. So the question is whether northern football is on the brink of a demise. Obviously Manchester is the exception. But even Merseyside, which was the epicentre of football in the 1980s, is now on the fringe. Is it cyclical or, with what’s happened in Yorkshire and Lancashire (with Wigan, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Burnley– the great clubs of yesteryear) are we seeing the north of England eased off the map of footballing success? Children today wouldn’t think of Leeds United as a great football club. Or Sheffield Wednesday. Current trends suggest Newcastle and Sunderland may be heading in that direction. In 10 years' time their great histories may seem irrelevant. The interest might have switched to Brighton or Bournemouth, or, around London, Watford, Fulham, QPR and Crystal Palace. please log in to view this image Leeds' glory days are a distant memory Clubs in the south-east who can claim to be within an hour of London seem to be developing a massive advantage. They will certainly be more attractive to players. If you had said to me 20 years ago that Alan Pardew would leave Newcastle to go to Crystal Palace I wouldn’t have believed you. I know there were other reasons. But Watford and Crystal Palace would now stand a good chance of taking a player off Newcastle or Sunderland, where some players feel they are doing the club a favour by being there. If you were to count the players in the current north-east clubs' squads who will stay there when their careers are over you would be unlikely to find more than two or three. So you lack large numbers who represent that badge, that club, that city. Too many will be there just for a job. But it’s more than a job, playing for a football club. You have to connect with the hearts and minds of fans. Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday are among those who face a mountainous climb to return to their old prominence. I ask why has there been no big buyer for Everton, Leeds or Wednesday. It could just be because people are investing in cities strategically rather than on the basis of vanished traditions. Even further north, Rangers and Celtic are in the same boat. I can remember Paul Gascoigne, Terry Butcher, Trevor Steven, Henrik Larsson and Brian Laudrup playing in Glasgow. Will they ever have that type again? I’m not sure. please log in to view this image The days when Paul Gascoigne starred for Rangers seem a long time ago Equally I look for, and fail to see, the next Shearer, Beardsley, Waddle or Gascoigne. The Geordie stars who seemed to step off a production line in the “hotbed of football” have disappeared. At both Sunderland and Newcastle I see a disconnect between the teams and the fans. I don’t see the links between owners, supporters, managers and fans. They are separate entities. I want to see boys from the heart of Newcastle running out in that black and white shirt and charging through a brick wall for their club. But the war to stay in the Premier League takes precedence over everything and no thought is given to constructing a team that reflects the community and the fans. please log in to view this image Newcastle fans make their point If Sunderland and Newcastle were to go down and Hull and Middlesbrough stay in the Championship, the north-east would be exiled from the Premier League. Other than a couple of Hull games, the only time I’ve visited a Yorkshire ground in the last five years is Brighouse, to watch Salford City. I used to go to Leeds, Barnsley, Bradford, Sheffield. In many ways I’m reaching out, to ask: how will this end? Where is football in the north of England going? There are warning signs. Is it cyclical or is something deeper going on? I’ll let you decide.
Was just adding the rest of the article for people to discuss? I saw the article tweeted earlier in the week. He's right to a degree - it's crazy that since their relegations, none of the teams from Yorkshire have managed to get back up. Liverpool just look an "average" side now too on the other coast. Everton seem to have gone backwards since Moyes left. Then there's the likes of Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley and Blackpool who've come and gone. And this season Sinderland and Newcastle look in danger (and possibly replaced by Brighton or Reading) Obviously ourselves or Boro could equally replace them.
It's not just football though is it.( though I agree with him) The whole of the North is being cut adrift period. Money is getting drained and siphoned towards London and the South East
The main reason is foreign players want to live in London as it is the only place with anything like the social life they are used to. One of the people commenting on the article who lives in Spain makes the point that players there are used to being able to go,out with theirbwives and kids after midnight and have a meal andvavdrink in safety. Most places outside of London are ghost towns by midnight, look,at the centre of Hull for example, and even in London you would have trouble going out forms meal after 9pm especially as a family. Wives will,dictate a lot of these things. It basically narrows down the choices to joining a London club or Manchester Utd or City. I've read of foreign players who think Manchester, which a lot here consider some sort of vibrant place, as being boring with not much in the way of nightlife or culture. It isn't a case of money being siphoned off, although to,some degree that happens, but of London being where people, especially wealthy foreigners, want to be. Personally I would rather be poor up north than well off in London.
Yeah ive noticed a change in London in the last few years Its gone from quiet relaxed and able to get a drink late to almost curfew style license Midnight shutdown now which has really spoilt it
londons a ****ing awful place to live but nevilles right players thesedays, average players, that would usually sign for 'better clubs' newcastle or sunderland are now signing for palace and watford etc cabaye is one big example.. london has it all.. newcastle and sunderland are no better than hull apart from the higher attendances, it's a whole example of the way the uk is right now london london london. no wonder scots wanted independence
Yes true If people could see beyond this Anglo Scotch divide itd be better the north of England breaking off from Lindon
i would love it i despise london the only times i've been is to wembley, i will never touch anything to do with london, the airports are a complete no go yorkshire and north should branch off with scotland imho
Think if we or Leeds or Sheff Wed paid the 90k wages we'd get a team of mercenaries to play for us. On that pay they could dictate Bob Carvers opening hours
