Winning the Football Lottery and Be a Big Club..

With much of the conversation at present revolving around transfers and money, I thought it would be interesting to gather your views about winning the ‘football lottery’ i.e. a multi-billionaire buying your club, and promising unlimited assets to invest in the club, or for your club to suddenly become an overnight ‘super club’ with a global brand etc.

I’m talking about your club suddenly being able to compete with the likes of Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and, lately, Man C.

So let us look at the lot of supporters of these clubs, and I am not trying to slate either the clubs or their (true) supporters here. The only time they can REALLY get excited is when they are in, or are approaching, a big final i.e. Champ League/UEFA (or whatever it’s called now) Cup. Their mindset is simply that they ARE going to win (with few exceptions) every game they play in. There is no “will we” “won’t we” “so-and-so’s out with injury, who’s going to replace him?”.

Now I am not talking about arrogance or blind faith, I am talking about general acceptance that they will win the game, every game. There is no way that that can compare to the experience of a "gashead",Swindon,Yeovil or Bristol City, no matter what the game or result we always have a massive scope for discussion before and after the match. The only scope ‘super club’ fans have for discussion is:

“we won”
“yeah”
“could’ve scored more”
“yeah”
“should’ve scored more”
“yeah”
“wot we gonna spend the £80 mill on?”
“any player we want”
“yeah”

You see where I’m going. I don’t want to turn up and see my club simply cruise past every team that opposes them, I want to see competition, as well as good football (erm&#8230. Fans of these clubs will (probably) never experience the heart break of relegation, the heat of a relegation/promotion battle, the joy of promotion, the anticipation of playing ‘giants’ in the cup.

Then we get to how ‘close’ you can get to your club? I have, on several occasions, communicated with staff and players at my club without a problem, although one has to accept that a response is at their convenience, and very often the staff at clubs ARE busy people. Given the massive, corporate nature of ‘super clubs’ it IS impossible for them to be as close to their fans as smaller clubs, for fans to really be a part of the club. You cannot imagine, even for all its comedic value, Man U asking its fans to perform maintenance tasks around Old Trafford,like the "gas" or City do every time there's a snow-flurry. The ‘super clubs’ are simply not interested in work-a-day fans, they don’t care if the residents of Salford can’t afford to buy a season ticket, because there are thousands more in London who can!

We, as every day supporters, of every day clubs, aren’t second class fans, relegated to the stalls whilst corporate jolly-boys enjoy their prospective vendor’s hospitality, not having a clue about the game or the result. Our grounds’ capacities are open to everyone who can afford a season ticket (no five year waiting list here), or even a ticket on the day.

“What was the result today Jeeves?”
“You lost sir”
“Lost? On my word! What has that done to the share price?”
“Your Pimms and the FT sir…”

On the whole, my club has taken me through every possible emotion, it is so much more ‘human’, and difficult, to be a fan of an every day, run of the mill club. Yes, we envy the success and money sloshing around the ‘super clubs’, and yes I wish my club had no money worries, as I said this is not a dig at the ‘super clubs’, more a reflection on WE have, that they will never know about, or understand.

The big question is, of course, would I (or you) swap all that integrity, emotion etc, for unlimited wealth and unrivalled success?

Damned straight I would.....NOW.