Good article by Brian Reade. I do think a lot of City fans outrage is cos we've come to the party very late, all the **** to fans of Premier League teams has been going on for years before we were ever aware of it. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/brian-reade-column-well-being-true-4402588 With talk of taking a full round of Prem fixtures abroad and December's travel nightmare TV fixtures, this week shows the contempt in which fans are held. The pub I drink in before and after games has a hardcore of fans who canât wait for kick-off time to approach. But theyâre not regressing to childhood, their stomachs fluttering at the nostalgic prospect of soaking in the fuggy warmth of Bovril and linament. They just canât wait for the crowd to disperse so they can stretch out and focus on the TV action being filmed a stones-throw away, but beamed back to them from Saudi Arabia, Estonia or whichever country the landlord has aimed his dish at. Some can no longer afford a pub-going match-day if it requires spending £42 to enter the ground. Others gave up their season ticket and were unable to get it back because it went (in their words) to âanother day-tripper.â Many donât even resent the foreign fan, having long ago understood that if the club is forced to pay £20million for average midfielders demanding £70,000-a-week to warm the bench, they need to do all the fleecing they can. And souvenir-loving tourists carry the most lucrative wool. I mention this as the re-floating of the plan to play a full round of 10 Premier League fixtures abroad is met with well-intentioned cries of âthis canât be allowed because itâs the tip of the iceberg.â Come on. The iceberg has been melting for years. Much of the gameâs life-blood already believes their birthright - their place in the ground - has been sold to people who are outsiders, whether theyâre on package tours from Asia or well-heeled clients being entertained in boxes. So whatâs new? I received dozens of emails last month from season ticket holders telling me theyâd been forced to move from seats theyâre being charged £56 for, on Champions League nights, to make way for corporates. As clubs go in search of more and more sponsors to boost revenue streams (sorry, âwelcome partners into our familyâ) and thus are forced to hand over more and more match-day seats, the needs of the traditional fan becomes less and less relevant. Theyâre viewed at best, as scenery, or something to stare at from the best seats in the house. And at worst as noisy irritants who jeopardise future growth with their ridiculous claims to have moral ownership of the club. Proof of the contempt in which fans are held can be seen with the list of the December games the Premier League has allowed Sky Sports to show. It is not possible for away fans to get back from ANY of the re-arranged Monday night matches via public transport. And if they donât care how youâre going to get home from Burnley, why should they care how youâre going to get back from Brunei? In an era when putting a pay-day loan company on shirts is accepted with barely a shrug, kick-off times are at the whim of satellite channels, your team can be sent to Turkestan on a Thursday night as part of a league nobody but UEFA wants, the World Cup can be awarded to Qatar and moved to winter to keep them happy, seasons are interrupted with competitive internationals against waiters from San Marino and Gibraltar and up to two-thirds of cup final tickets go to the sponsors, letâs not even bother feigning outrage about the Premier League âselling its soul to the devilâ by moving a set of fixtures abroad. Just accept the devil long ago bought the naming rights to that soul and concentrate on injustices you have a far better chance of defeating. Like world poverty.
Defeatest attitude, the game would benefit from more fans refusing to accept some of the current issues. With the new TV deal that's coming, match day revenue will become even more insignificant for all but the top four clubs. It's a perfect opportunity for clubs to instead expand their grounds, drop ticket prices and try to make the game as inclusive as it once was.
I've been thinking that for 15 years but no longer do. TV and media companies need to fill schedules so the price will only go up. The £500,000 a week player is very close to being a regular fixture. SCANDALOUS but true
I've been thinking that for 15 years but no longer do. TV and media companies need to fill schedules so the price will only go up. The £500,000 a week player is very close to being a regular fixture. SCANDALOUS but true
Wishful thinking. It wont happen. Liverpool are going to expand with the express intention of raising ticket prices not ensuring local scousers can afford to go. Fans accept everything and have done since its inception.
How can anyone not agree, apart from Dr Allam of course, who continues to see his weekly bank balance drop as another expensive cucumber picker joins his payroll from one transfer window to the next.....
If everyone thinks like that, then it's a foregone conclusion, but not all of us are prepared to roll over and are doing what we can to reverse this trend(and I'm not talking about CTWD).
As soon as my ten year debenture ends, my involvement with Club Wembley ends. I didn't buy the tickets, I inherited them when I bought the company that owned them. You'll have to come up with some other snide remark to cover your inadequacies as a football fan.
The English game has been a victim of the BPL's success. It is the world league, in some ways; the BPL is watched by more people than La Liga/Bundesliga/Serie A combined. That audience want to see players from their own country so, over time, PL clubs have become like divisions of the Foreign Legion. Personally, I think this is great and I enjoy it for what it is. There really is no point constantly bemoaning that 'it was better in my day'. The game has changed irrevocably.
The reason there are so many foreigners here is not that their countrymen want to see them play here but because they can earn more money here, maybe not the very top ones, Ronaldo, Messi etc but the lesser ones and even fairly ordinary ones. If you think that is great fair enough. I don't.
What's really sad is the 'product' would far more attractive if they dropped prices. The stadia would full of local people creating a far better atmosphere. But owners and the Premier League are so greedy they can't see it.
