Time to sort this out.

Ok, I have to say something.
I know the Premier League is the most lucrative and exciting league in the world, but isn't it time the league was "capped"?

I was buzzing when we were promoted, but can't help but miss the championship. No stupid soap operas, just solid football where any team can beat anyone. Such a competitive league. More football matches and cheaper tickets. And not forgetting that players were on more sensible wages.

The prem is full of overpaid chavs who cannot behave. Also with football referees who are becoming as famous as some of the players. And now with a major team (albeit Scottish) going down, more are bound to follow.

How many Rugby teams go into administration? American sports teams seem to handle the also crazy wages without teams going belly up.

Is it time that the FA and FIFA put some regulations in place to allow teams to survive without the need for a billionaire owner. Afterall, pro sports teams are all about profit. I now understand if the rumour is true that Tony Fernandes wants out. Football is just not a viable business anymore.

 

I've been thinking along similar lines for a while now too. Very few teams actually make any money in the Premiership and are simply expensive marketing toys/penis extensions for their wealthy owners.

As punters we've all been sucked into the "best league in the world" line that's frequently plodded out yet in reality we have half a dozen sides (max) that can realistically vie for the league with the rest feeding on scraps and are seemingly grateful and will do anything to prolong their time in the "promised land". The European showing of our best teams this season has shown that we are not as good as many people think.

I too yearn for the days where any club can compete on something of an even footing with the bigger teams without resorting to overblown wages and contracts.

The Rangers debacle may end up being a good thing for British football if it makes the clubs really adhere to fit and proper management. More likely though that the overpaid club accountants and lawyers will remain a step ahead of both FIFA and the FA and the money pit will continue to grow.

 

couple of quick points..

1. would you be posting this if we were top 8 and expecting better next year..i dont think so....

2. the prem is NOT by any means the best league in the world or even europe....how many prem teams have won the chumps league...how many times...Stop kidding yourselves and buying into the promo ****e...

As an outsider...i can see, we aint the best supported league in europe (germany)..we have not won the most trophies( italy) and we aint got a team that can consistantly beat Real Madrid, Barca, Inter etc....

Wake up and enjoy the most Promoted second clas league in the world, closely followed by japan.........!!!

 

While I heartily agree with the sentiments expressed I doubt that the FA/FIFA are competent organizations to sort this out. The Bundesliga model seems to be the one that makes most sense for a 'sustainable' future. However, there is simply too much cash and vested interest in The Prem for this to be adopted voluntarily. Quick answer is to remove some of the cash, by guerilla action. Cancel your Sky subscription and watch as many games as possible on illegal streams, preferably several games on different computers at the same time. The less money Sky gets the less it will pay the Prem and if we really wind them up they may pull out altogether. Ask the pub landlord to turn the footy off so you can have a conversation with your mates. Be less addicted to footy on TV generally, get your kicks live, I still like getting down to my local non league team if I can't get to the Rs. The catastrophic showing of English teams in the Champs League is, in this context, a good thing.
Of course the ominously named 'global financial situation' may sort it out for us if everything including the Murdoch Empire collapses, with footy clubs going back to what they were in the 30s (actually through to the 90s) - CHEAP escapism for the masses.

 

Quite a few rugby clubs are having problems. Wasps are having severe financial problems (including trouble with the tax man) and have been put up for sale by the numpty, Steve Hayes, who also owns Wycombe Wanderers. He gambled on getting a new stadium, paid for by the local council, with the intention of selling off the site of the old one and personally making a killing. Eventually, after much public pressure, the council said no.

Both Wanderers and Wasps are in deep sh*t at the moment.

American football still relies on the billionaire owners, but there are only 32 teams across the whole of the US. If you scaled it down to the size of the UK there would be just 4 teams in the whole of the Prem and Championship. Their merchandising revenue is enormous because of this and TV revenue is $20 billion a year - to be upped to $40 billion a year from 2014. There is no comparison.

 

totally agree with you...actually turning up at a game (coming from me in Aus) is the key to the best league..Germany have the highest supporter turnout in europe....maybe if people stop kidding themselves how good the prem is,...and try loking at other teams, they may realise...
BUT
We are English...& therefore in our mentality..We are the best ..because..we did win Le Tournio didnt we and '66...etc..

 

I think the wording of 'best league in the world' may be wrong. Technically there are better leagues, but maybe 'most exciting league' would be closer (although I'm not saying it is) but I think I'd rather watch a relegation battle match in the premier than a top of the table clash in the Italian league (just an example) All depends if you'd rather see slow silky skills or blood and thunder tpye games. And teams that are able to scrap for the title is limited to a handful in most countries. How many teams in Spain will win the title? or Italy etc. There IS leagues within leagues in that some teams will only get so far. Personally this year I'd rather be the best of a bad bunch in the premier league then scraping it out as an also ran in the championship. Next season if we stay up I'll be hoping for improvement and mid table obscurity.
I wonder if people who miss the championship now were saying 2 years ago when we near the bottom of it "Wouldn't it be great to be back in league 1 when we were a competitive team'. I can't understand the feelings of wanting to play lesser teams just to be more competitive. It seems when the going gets tough, some people can't hack it and want to go back to the security of comfortable football where we know we can beat a section of teams.

 

I've been going to Loftus Rd for over 40 years and have seen us compete at various levels over the years. I wanted promotion as much as anyone last season but always had some concerns about being in a league that was a closed shop in terms of achieving a top six finish and where we would enter the world of absurd wages,expensive tickets and the lack of opportunity to buy them at the last minute, not to mention the lack of football. I'm not saying I want us to return to the championship for one minute but the problems we have had on and off the pitch have not made this the football promised land it is cracked up to be.

 

I think some of you have gone off track. Everyone has made some valid points (apart from Queenslander - what planet are you on if you are trying to compare the Bundesliga with the Prem - too much sunshine has cooked your bonce), but my point was that this league is going to implode if salaries aren't capped. 2 main reasons:

1) no financial sense. Totally unsustainable.
2) most footballers are working class. , not brought up with much money. Therefore when they basically win the lottery and get so much attention and privileges they don't know how to keep sensible.

Obviously this doesn't apply to all players, but they think they are lawless and end up behaving like douchebags e.g Suarez, Rooney, Terry, barton etc

 

Glasgow Rangers have "tax problems"

Sooner or later clubs will have to start living within their means - and maybe a salary cap COULD be a solution to the problem.
However, Football clubs are now seen as the latest fashion item for multi millionaires that only see their money / initial outlay being reurned at 10% plus.

I cannot see any answers to this - Tevez in £200 grand a week at Man City - hasn't been paid since November - does he need the money? I would prefer to see players rewarded for success with a big bonus, but on a small salary rather than other way round...but hen if I was a footie player I would be after all the cash I could get from my employer...#

 

In my opinion the best thing for football is for the whole thing to go up in smoke - it is a shame that money has corrupted the beautiful game. The salaries paid to the top professionals is disgraceful and obscene. What Tevez earns in a week is what some would take 10years to earn. Footballers deserved to be well paid, and you don't want to go back to days of where they were clearly ripped off, but the amounts now are far too much.

In addressing the point of match attendence, it is simply greed again. Our tickets are completly over-priced and there is no need to charge the amounts that they do. Stoke played there biggest match ever (subjective i know) last night, and there were empty seats. Week in Week out you see empty seats around the grounds. Why do they need to be so expensive? they aren't in other leagues? The bbc reported with the rangers fiasco (paraphased) 'that it goes to show how little impact the gate money has to the running of a club'. If the gates recieved are incidental why not give a bit back to the fans, and cream it off the corporates? Or god forbid, get the players to take a pay cut? If all the clubs took a stand the players would have no choice but to accept it. Pie in the sky stuff i know - would be like trying to get everyone on here to ignore a WUM!!