Football & The Working Man - An Increasingly Twisted Love

This is something I wrote last Friday (February 14th), but lost (and since recovered) due to technical issues. It is about the most manipulative, tortuous and frustrating love you can have. It was probably more relevant as a Valentine's lament to the game we love, but a few days doesn't change anything.

 

Given weekend events at Bramall Lane it may seem a little incongruous, but this is more about lamenting the modern game in general and not my club on it's own.

 

 

 

It is a relationship that is a long term commitment.

At times you can argue it is a one way relationship. You put so much in to get so little back.

You do not have a monogamous partner. Yet you look at no other.

Despite this one-eyed devotion, your share of its time rises and falls over time.

 

Some say love is a gift, bestowed freely, willingly and without expectation. But this is different; there is always an expectation, and if not expectation there is hope. Hope that grinds you down over time, it might diminish, but always lingers.

 

The moments, when they come are, magical, full of ecstacy and emotion, but they are all too rare. 

You invest time, energy and money, yet it increasingly exploits you. The meals become more expensive, the clothes they insist you buy, to demonstrate your love, increase in cost.

They say you should show your love in new and inventive ways, buying bricks in walls, onesies, assorted over-priced tat. But it brings little reward and leaves you spent out.

You recognise all of its faults - that you blithely accept - but rarely the virtues. But those virtues become harder and harder to see as time moves on.

The number of little things that niggle increase year on year.

It invites you into its arms, yet leaves you unable to see it's wares.

It can ignore what you want and like; changing the way they look, wearing red when you hate it, changing their given name to something they think will further their future development.

It can leave you stranded in another city, with no means of transport home, just because the TV companies asked for an appearance.

It can move away to another town or city without a thought as to how you will cope or keep the relationship alive.

The lure of money and power is often too much and you just cannot compete.

There are times you sense it wouldn’t miss you if you wasn't there, such is the myriad of others courting attention, offering riches that you just cannot match.

Over time you realise that it is something that actually bears little resemblance to what you first started a relationship with in the first place. 

Your devotional manner masks the bloated garish mess it has become.

It's ego has got bigger, interest in it has widened.

 

You share it with others who increasingly argue that they love it more, that they are more special, that they deserve more attention, that they deserve to be treated better.

It is a relationship played out in front of a feverish media, all looking to exploit any minor connection to make up a story, to try and break the relationship or any party involved. Your resolve remains strong.

It is a relationship played out against a backdrop of social media bullying, banter from people you have never met and never will do and a large yellow rolling banner telling you the latest exclusive news about your love.

The physical and emotional blows increase in severity. One kick in the balls follows another. But still you are there, unable to walk away.

It tells you that you are great, that you are important and valued, yet finds increasingly expensive ways to test you.

Drink makes it easier. It makes the day pass quicker, makes the state of play look better. But that isn't the answer.

And still you suffer painful pangs for the things you held dear - most now obliterated, never to return.

That which first attracted you in the first place.

Now just distant memories or at best fleeting moments.

Unwanted Visitors

With ticket pricing in the news again a real set to started on twitter with fans of various clubs, journalists, fan organisations and fanzines all having their say on the issue of ticket pricing. Sadly much of the debate with fans sinks to two trains of thought. One driven by partisanship where fans are happy to criticise other clubs, but see little fault in their own club.  The other prevalent train of thought seems to be "well I can afford it so what is the problem if some cannot?". This again misses the point and seems symptomatic of an increasingly selfish wider society, where it is all about "me" and balls to everyone else. A survival of the shittiest, if you will.

My piece on Huddersfield fans boycotting Bramall Lane last season, over the prices being charged by for a League One match, caused a bit of debate at the time. My point then was that it needed a concerted national focus on ticket prices and discretionary pricing on the back of the cases being highlighted. As much as there were elements of the Huddersfield boycott to be admired, their fans seemed to direct ire personally at Sheffield United whilst remaining oblivious to their own club doing exactly the same to other clubs (United included); albeit with marginally lower prices.

Nothing has changed in my view. The FSF and other fan organisations need to ride off the back of the current media storm and push the authorities for controls and caps to be in place. This has to be at all levels, not just the Premier League, regardless of whether this creates problems for clubs lower down the leagues. How can Alfreton Town charge £18 for Blue Sq Premier League football? Obviously, the Premier League are in a much better position to absorb these reduction; as the FSF Chairman Malcolm Clarke pointed out last week, the new Premier League TV deal would allow clubs to reduce existing prices by an average of £30 per ticket.

Whilst many focus on the generic issue of high prices for all fans; after all you cannot charge away fans more than a home ticket in an equivalent part of the stadium, others focus on the price discrimination in play with game categorisation and the added difficulties of the away fan, the debate set me thinking on a different track - whether football clubs really want away fans in their stadiums at all?

In some ways it seems like a vaguely romantic notion that clubs would see the benefits of away support; the thrilling atmosphere of fans chanting support for their team, shouting down the opposition, generating a buzz and a visceral roar to the game. Two sets of fans going verbally head to head in a to and fro of songs and chants is an integral part of going to the match. Yet, with a few exceptions, is this becoming a thing of the past?

Maybe I notice it more as clubs come to Bramall Lane with away support proportionate to their home attendances; dwarfed by empty red seats around them and 18,000 fans in the other three sides. But switch on Match of the Day or Super Sunday and you will see it in the upper echelons of the game. How many clubs sell all their away tickets, how many times can you hear the away fans chanting in and amongst the home support. How often is a match played out to the sound of Martin Tyler and Gary Neville and little else, aside from moments of goalmouth action?

Are the clubs bothered? Are the TV executives bothered? When the Premier League started and ticket prices were more affordable there were empty seats, what is there incentive to do anything about it?  You could even see them sticking on a pre-recorded tape of crowd noise, who in the millions of Sky subscribers, those that seemingly matter most these days, would notice? They seemingly aren't botheredabout empty seats, the only people who are bothered are opposition fans who have another verbal stick to attack the opposition with.

Having given it a bit of thought over the last week I can see why clubs might want to minimise away support. At first I thought the theories set out below might only benefit clubs in the Premier League, where capacity is reached and demand for tickets outstrips supply, yet some could still be applied to Football League clubs and maybe the increase in costs for handling away supporters outstrips the often minimal uplift in turnover from them being there?

Financial benefits of selling those seats to home fans

Obviously there are segregation issues to address and this is not always straight forward depending upon ground design, access routes etc. but if tickets are returned and sold to home supporters there could be a significant financial uplift for the club.

With tickets priced between £30 and £65 the cost of attending as an away fan could be anywhere between £100 and £200 depending upont ravel costs, food and drink, programme etc. In most cases the home fans have much lower additional costs of attending and more likely/comfortable to spend that on a ticket.

Certainly at the larger Premier league clubs, where there are more members than seats and limits on match-day availability the lack of opportunities to see their team will encourage the casual fan to look past the ticket price. After all, it is not like they are spending this amount week in, week out.

Additional discretionary spend

Money made from other discretionary spend  should increase as well. Firstly as a home fan there is a greater willingness to spend money at your club on food and drink for example. Then there is the additional spend in other club concessions and the club shop. Granted not every additional home fan will do this, but whatever proportion does, it is all additional income the club wouldn’t have had with away fans in those seats.

Sale of alcohol to away fans vs. home fans

Some grounds still impose a ban on the sale of alcohol to away fans. Obviously this will be relaxed if home fans take up the seats. Again it is a marginal financial benefit, but it is still additional profit.

Cost of policing and stewarding?

The greater the away support; the greater the costs incurred. Policing bills increase with increased resources deployed to maintain segregation and control outside the ground. The clubs' stewarding contractors will charge more for managing and maintaining safety in the ground. For the same sized crowd, the stewarding requirements will increase, the higher the proportion of away fans.

Partisan atmosphere

It could be argued that minimising the number of away supporters gives the home team an edge. Many clubs already try to marginalise the impact of away support; usually by placing them in a distant part of the stadium and making them barely seen or heard - take the rafters of St James' Park as an example.

The Premier League has said that it will encourage clubs to bring in new incentives to encourage away fans but will not intervene directly over ticket prices. There have been calls for a cap on the amounts clubs are charging away fans - particularly where the categorisation of matches is in place - but the league insists tickets are a matter for individual clubs. Yet again complete avoidance of the issue.

There have been various proposals put forward on the ticket price issue, many focusing on the problem for away supporters. One suggestion was that coaches should be subsidised for travelling fans, a laudable suggestion to some and the kind of incentive the Premier League were clearly angling for; but the cynic in me sees it differently.

Not all fans want to travel by coach, be held at service stations, be deposited next to the ground close to kick off, without the chance to explore a town/city and have a choice over where they eat and drink beforehand. This kind of suggestion just plays into the authorities' hands. We have already seen examples of "coach bubble" tactics from police,where fans have to buy joint match and coach tickets, and must travel to their home ground for a journey, escorted by police to the stadium. This has been used for high profile games, where they see a risk of violence, but this is hardly going to discourage them from making its use more widespread. At times it is the clubs as much as the police that are advocating such controls.

Yet again, what is proposed as a solution ends up being a punishment for the majority and reduces their civil liberties. Add in legislation that means that you can’t drink in a mini bus or coach going to or from a ground, it adds little to the supporter experience. Meanwhile, for those who arrive by train, it’s not unusual to be met off the train by police,corralled to a local pub and effectively made to stay there until shortly before kick-off.

I, as a shirt wearing fan, have been told where I will drink, not been allowed to leave for the ground well ahead of kick off and then been escorted there (arriving as the match kicked off), all the while having police dogs straining on the leash and cameras trained on us. Away fans are the enemy treated with contempt and suspicion, with no attempt to recognise the differences amongst them. So what if they miss a few minutes of the game.

I accept that there are some clubs taking positive steps and a look at the site of The Fan Experience Company http://bradleyprojects.com/blog.php?id=5 highlights interesting and welcome initiatives from Brighton, Cardiff and AstonVilla.

As an example; Cardiff addressed explored each visiting fantouch point with all of the key club representatives involved (including the Safety Advisory Committee, stewards, police, fans and those responsible for the away fan experience within the club itself), unravelled it and effectively re-engineered it. Yet the irony in Cardiff’s stance in trying to make visiting fans more welcome is that their away support can sometimes suffer from restrictions on their travel and allocations. I heard recently of potential issues they face going to Leeds, whereby restrictions on ticket collection and an early kick off are being imposed, with a threat of tickets being withheld otherwise.

The initiatives mentioned above have reduced instances of crowd trouble and increased pre-match revenues from away supporters, yet they are the exception rather than the rule. They will remain the exception unless the mind-sets of those running the game change. Talking about the Manchester City game Arsene Wenger commented;

"I am really worried they are high for our supporters.For the visitors, it only happens once a year, so that is less of a concern. We sell out our games, but ideally you want ticket prices to be affordable to everybody. It is a very delicate subject." You can argue that he is focusing on his club and the specifics of the ticket price furore and also that he is not in a position to influence club policy, but if that self-serving attitude pervades the whole of the football club that has to be a concern. As long as our fans are okay, we don't care about the rest.

The game of football has devalued away fans for many years; demonised by the authorities, treated like second class citizens by clubs, police and stewards, their football watching made more difficult by television schedules and prohibitive costs, and all without a second thought. Not all of this is driven by the clubs, but they are complicit in it happening. Away fans are a vital component of a British football match, more so than in other countries and aided by geography and a culture of travelling support. It seems at the minute that host clubs have only a little interest in their well-being or experience. There may come a point in the near future where they don't care for them at all.

Talent Ready For The Step Up?

Today I was drawn to a tweet from fellow Blade and Guardian football journalist John Ashdown, which mentioned that he was judging the Football League Awards 2011. It set me thinking as to where my votes would go.

The awards were established in 2006 and cover a wide variety of categories rewarding fans, community programmes, matchday programmes, stadia, sponsorship, sportsmanship as well as the players. Awards are given to the best player in each division, the best young player and the best apprentices in each division.

Success has often been an acknowledgement that the player concerned is ready for the step up in division. The first Championship Player of the Year, Phil Jagielka, has since gone on to Everton and international recognition. The Young Player of the Year in 2007 was the much touted Gareth Bale. And the 2008 League 1 and 2 players of the year Jermaine Beckford (then of Leeds) and Keith Andrews (then playing for a South Midlands franchise) now find themselves at Premier League clubs. Some struggle to have an impact when their team steps up a level, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake the 2009 winner being a good example. Others were realistically Premier League quality players who remained loyal as their club went down; Kevin Nolan (2010 winner) and Kevin Phillips (2008).

So, who would I choose? I have limited my choice to the Championship, it has taken me long enough to narrow down my list as it is. I also find things like this difficult to assess often because of when they take place. Do you include performances in the latter part of last season, or just this season to date? If you included the early part of 2010, a player who would be up for consideration as Championship Player of the Season would be Darren Ambrose. His dynamic goalscoring performances were a key factor in Crystal Palace's survival, yet this season he has made just 10 starts due to injury. So, to keep this as simple as possible, my candidates listed below are based on this season to date.

Championship Player of the Season

Below I have selected my top three. It wasn't easy and I have based it on live performances and TV viewing. Before explaining why I selected each one I have a few honourable mentions.

Ashley Williams (Swansea) - a rock in the centre of their defence and shows a level of maturity and leadership beyond his 26 years.

Danny Graham (Watford) - Made a decent transition from League 1 with Carlisle to Championship last season, with 14 league goals. Already exceeded that total this and formed a great partnership with Marvin Sordell.

John Oster (Doncaster) - In an attacking Doncaster line up alongside Hayter, Sharp, Stock and Coppinger, he has stood out due to a combination of work rate, skill and a demand to have the ball and take responsibility.

Adam Hammill (Barnsley) - Now in the Premiership with Wolves, he successfully built on his previous loan spell at Oakwell with commanding performances in midfield, a good eye for goal and a cracking shot. It will be interesting to see how Barnsley cope without him and how he settles into a struggling Premier League side.

Luciano Becchio (Leeds) - I remember Leeds supporting colleagues telling me last season, "Forget Beckford, Becchio is the one we are worried about losing". Now I can see why and he is well on his way to exceeding the 17 goals scored in League 1 last season.

So my top 3:

Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)

I have to admit to having little positive to say about Jay Bothroyd prior to this season and although he has certainly improved his all round game, I feel his England cap was more due to the dearth of English forwards, than Bothroyd's international capabilities.

Where he has proved to be more than capable is in the Championship and for a striker who could legitimately be described as a journeyman at 28 and whose previous best season comprised 13 goals he has been in a rich vein of form. 14 league goals to date, in just 18 starts, and he suddenly looks much more incisive in front of goal. Whereas once he would look for the spectacular, only to see it fired high and wide, he is now finding the net. Certainly playing alongside Bellamy and Chopra and a supply line from Whittingham, Rae, Burke et al helps his cause, but the fact that he has outscored Bellamy and Chopra combined says a lot for his achievement. Never short of self belief that to me seemed to belie his abilities, maybe the increase in quality around him has made him a little more grounded?

Jamie Mackie (QPR)

Following his move from Plymouth in May, Mackie made an instant impact at Loftus Road. When seen in the green of Argyle he never looked the most skillful player, nor was he a prolific goalscorer. For what was an anticipated seven figure fee, QPR fans would have been right to be concerned as to what kind of striker they were signing.

What they got was a hard working, committed striker who, when surrounded by better players at big-spending Rangers, hit the most prolific period of his career in the early part of the season. Although the scoring run did dry up a little, he continued to play a key role in maintaining Rangers' position at the head of the table and had gained his first Scotland cap, before he suffered a double leg fracture and a gobful of bile from El Hadji Diouf in the cup tie at Blackburn in January.

Adel Taraabt (QPR)

Sometimes the stats say it all. Top scorer with 13 goals, top of the assists table with 11. Adel has played a part in over half of QPR's 45 goals.

Probably the most exciting player in the Championship he captivates and frustrates in equal measure. His goalscoring record created by 97 shots, proving the old adage - if you don't buy a ticket, you don't win the raffle. Just as likely to try the hardest of three passes when the simplest would suffice, yet when it works the results are stupendous. Take his through ball for Wayne Routledge's winning goal vs Coventry. Tight on the left touchline, just over halfway, with a Coventry player tight to him. He dug out a ball with the outside of his right boot that swerved, dipped and landed on Routledge's boot on the edge of the box. One touch and swept past the on-rushing keeper.Magic.

Players like Taraabt can often be accused of drifting in and out of games, yet QPR can accept that when he still contributes at the key moments, as the stats show. But when in the mood, as he was at Bramall Lane on 14th August, he can take control of a game and tease you and torment you. He scored a penalty, QPR's third goal, on 23 minutes. He was pulling all the strings to the extent that QPR were able to bring him off after 68 minutes. Proof Neil Warnock does have a sympathetic side.

Taraabt, for me, is the best player in the Championship.

Young Player of the Year

The Young Player of the Season is much harder to judge. The Championship is wash with young loanees from the Premier League, it feels like the proportion is increasing year on year. Many of these players have impressed me when I have seen them this season.

Cameron Stewart (19) of Hull City (Manchester United) looks a raw prospect with plenty of pace. If anything it's his final ball which lets him down, but the speed of footwork as much as his athleticism causes a handful for opposition defences.

Josh King (19) of Preston North End (again Manchester United) looked a great prospect, in his first spell away from Old Trafford, but in a struggling side his 7 appearances brought a nil return, but not without a great deal of effort and application.

I have made my views on Kyle Walker (Spurs player loaned to QPR) known elsewhere on this site, but it's clear that his arrival on loan enhanced an already rock-steady R's defence.

The award is not aimed at loanees however and focusing on players owned, rather than loaned, by Championship clubs, there are two candidates that immediately spring to mind.

Marvin Sordell (19 years old, Watford)

Although Danny Graham is taking a  majority of the goalscoring plaudits at Watford and rightly so; the impact of Sordell, given his first real run in the first team, is hard to ignore. One of several Vicarage Road academy products breaking through, he had spells on loan at Wealdstone and then Tranmere before getting his League chance at the end of last season.

13 league and cup goals from 22 starts this season is reward for a player who has formed a great strike partnership with Graham and helped his club be the division's highest scorers and taken them to the brink of the play offs. He runs the channels very well and works hard for his team and strike partner. 

Equally comfortable shooting from outside the box as close in, it was a high stretch of the leg and a controlled finish from close in that saw him seal a win for Watford at Bramall Lane in October.

If he continues to apply himself and works hard to improve, as Malky Mackay acknowledged he did in the Summer he has a future in the Premier League.

Scott Sinclair (21 years old, Swansea)

After many spells out on loan and after displaying quality forward play in most of them, I found it surprising to see his permanent move out of Chelsea was to end in the Championship. An initial £500,000 seemed like a bargain fee for a player who, on his day, can tear teams apart with quick feet and quality wing play, yet can play down the middle and finish opportunities with great composure.

The fact that his old academy boss at Chelsea, Brendan Rogers, was in charge aided Swansea's cause and he has seen his former charge net 12 league goals (17 including cup) so far this season. Not bad for a player classed as a midfielder. Yet it's Rogers decision to play him on the left side of an attacking trio in a 4-3-3 formation that is paying dividends. His first England Under 21 cap was picked up in November and you cannot help but feel that Premiership football will follow shortly, either with Swansea or elsewhere.

It would be difficult for me to pick between the two. Sinclair was much more of a known talent and for that reason I will go for Sordell given the impact he has made.

These are just my opinions and based on what I have seen of the players this season. Those of you have seen more of these players than me may have a different opinion and, if you do, please share it below. It would also be great to hear opinions on League 1 and League 2 as well, I feel less qualified to comment on those. We will then have to wait until the winners are revealed to see how accurate our assessments are.

My Hopes for The Cradle of Football in 2011

20 years ago Stuart Roy Clarke started his footballing opus - The Homes of Football. As he states on his website and within several of his books he believed himself "to have a mission in telling the changing face of football, post Hillsborough." He believed he "was stood on the precipice of history, peculiarly privileged in (his) view, to witness a national institution in big trouble, reinventing itself."

This Christmas I increased my collection of Clarke's work by asking for and receiving (I have been a good boy all year - after all) The Cradle of The Game. This pulls together 20 years of capturing the passion, the atmosphere, the rituals, the emotion, the game, at all levels from the Westmorland League to World Cups and European Championships.

 

It is a vital and impressive piece of work that every football fan should own. You can buy it, along with his other books, here. Clarke's photography is so simple, yet so evocative to the senses you can hear the noise, feel the tension, taste the greasy burgers and feel yourself physically swerving around the river of urine pouring down the steps at Tynecastle in "Bogs Overspill". 

In the introduction to the The Cradle of The Game, Clarke states that he had "a real sense of mission to start telling the story anew. Club after club is facing dereliction, given the global recession combined with over-reaching oneself. Even though the game is ever more popular in footfall and some of the foot-ball is the best ever served. It’s just the sums that don’t add up."

He is so right. The feelgood factor that followed Italia 90 elevated football to such a positive level in the public consciousness that the Sky input just added impetus to the new football bandwagon. At the same time the fans were finding a voice, particularly through the fanzine movement, and as football changed, the public perception changed, the money came in to the game and the fan experience changed, initially in positive ways.

Now the fans are rising once more and the messages they are delivering are strikingly similar. Primarily fed up of being taken for granted, but also fed up of a game and players so far removed from the grim reality of everyday life in modern Britain.

As a fellow Blades supporter put it to me the other day, when tweeting about the increasing demands and expectations of fans in this country, "£30+ a ticket, fans fleeced in club shop, players earning more per week than most people earn per annum. Money has made fans want it now." As the money poured into football, with little benefit filtering down to the fans, it has empowered supporters to be more demanding of their teams to an extent which is sometimes hard to reconcile expectation with achievements. The exchange of tweets followed news of Sunderland (7th in the Premier League) being booed off by their supporters after a home defeat to Blackpool and Cardiff City (2nd in the Championship) internet forums being filled with calls for Dave Jones to be sacked. I struggle to get my head around it.

Football in 2010 has not been particularly enjoyable for me in a number of ways, not least trying to introduce my 5 year old son to live football with the dross on display at Bramall Lane. On the plus-side his season ticket only cost me £10 Junior Blades membership, a pricing policy which has been one of the few positives for me this year. That said, there has been plenty to dislike about football in 2010;

Where 45 quid gets you a restricted view seat at Stamford Bridge and £34 gets you the best seats for a  match at Sheffield United or Leeds United. Yet, average ticket prices for the competitive Bundesliga in Germany cost on average 21 Euros. And still German fans are protesting at the increasing price.

Where you have no choice but to sit and if you stand out of your seat for any prolonged period you are threatened with expulsion from the ground or arrest.

Where it has taken intense fan pressure for safe standing to be considered by the authorities. Yet in Germany these areas exist and can be entered for under 10 Euros.

Safe standing in Hamburg - from FSF

Where the food quality/price ratio is so badly skewed that a fiver is likely to provide you with an evening on the toilet rather than a nutritious and filling snack. Only at football can Guinness be advertised at £3.50 per pint, only for the pump to be foregone in favour of a can from the fridge when your money has been taken.

Where clubs feel it is necessary to put the words of fan written club anthems up on the big screen , just in case people forget the words.

Where clubs are happy to receive positive PR for foregoing shirt sponsorship in order to put a local charity on their shirts. Only then paying over a promised cut of shirt sales to the aforementioned charity when the lack of payment was made public.

Where spurious "football rules" are allowed to over rule insolvency law allowing footballers to be paid money they are owed ahead of small local suppliers and the St Johns Ambulance service.

Where it is the fans who put their hands in their pockets to donate money to pay debts owed by the clubs to St Johns Ambulance the value of which would barely be a week's wage for one of those players.

Where a winding up from Revenue & Customs seemingly poses no real threat to owners who have financially mis-managed their club, living a dream that bore little resemblance to the nightmarish reality.

Where at least 28 professional or semi-professional UK football clubs have gained the winding up order badge of honour in the last year and are willing to partake in the ultimate game of brinkmanship with HMRC before pulling a financial rabbit from a hat.

Where the big clubs are granted time they barely deserve whilst smaller clubs, who can more legitimately play the "community card" so prevalent in the arguments of defence from the larger clubs, are put out of business. R.I.P. Ilkeston Town and Chester City 

The redundant New Manor Ground, Ilkeston (Copyright:thisisderbyshire.co.uk)

A game where the Premier League, the FA and the Football League's' definition of the words "fit and proper" is looser than MC Hammer's trousers.

Where a club's fans are enthralled by overseas investment and promises from Thai Duty Free Magnates, Indian Chicken Companies or from serial football owners/administrators Peter Ridsdale / Milan Mandaric. Yet you cannot help but feel it will all end in tears.

Where such enormous sums of money are pumped into the game that the need to compete leads owners to gamble not just on short term prizes, but on the long term future of clubs.

Where player wage costs increased dramatically in 2010 to 67% of total revenue, in some cases turnover barely covers player wages.

Where the media hype English players and the Premier League beyond belief, yet explode in disbelief when it all goes wrong.

Where Richard Keys nearly ejaculates on live TV at the thought of being able to smell the tunnel as Arsenal and Chelsea line-up pre-match.

Where Andy Gray, desperately trying to maintain his support for Sky's Premier League "product" dismisses the skills of Messi et al (displayed weekly by his employers), by suggesting that the Argentinian wouldn't fancy it on a cold wet night at Stoke. 

Where Wayne Rooney can sarcastically address the nation following his and England's abject World Cup draw with Algeria. Berating the reaction of fans who had spent thousands of pounds travelling halfway round the world to watch and support the team.



Loyal Rooney - Picture ITV



“That's what loyal support is,” said Rooney, yet four months later Rooney demonstrated his admirable values and loyalty handing in a transfer request and vowing never to play for Manchester United again. A week later all was well at Manchester United and Rooney had a new deal earning a reported £250,000 per week, not far off ten times the median average annual salary in this country.

Where a 2018 World Cup bid becomes a not unanticipated waste of £15m. An ineptly run project from start to finish with no leadership, a bizarre choice of potential stadia, scandals and disappointment that Sepp Blatter's push to take football to new frontiers didn't include bringing it home. Maybe the fact that the Chairman of the Premier League and Chairman of Club England distanced himself so far from the bid told you all you need to know about its chances of success.

I hope 2011 brings some sanity to the world of football.

That some of the harsh financial realities that a large proportion of the country are now facing properly hit home with football clubs and players alike and that the playing field starts to level out.

That promoted teams can sensibly establish themselves in the Premier League without taking themselves to the brink to do it.

That the authorities clamp down harder and penalise clubs who, in my opinion, cheat by signing players that they know they will not be able to pay the full monthly cost of employing. That is by not paying over the PAYE and NI they have "deducted" from their players salaries.

That football's preferential creditor rule is successfully challenged by HMRC leading to a change in the way players contracts are negotiated and that the support line of local clubs, the small businesses that come in and maintain the electrics, fix the burst pipes, paint the stands have as much chance of receiving some form of payment as your star striker.

That we see a flattening or reversal of ticket prices so that we don't see empty seats everywhere, so that teams can take a good level of away support to each game and we can get back to having decent banter and a competitive atmosphere at matches.

That fans are recognised as the lifeblood of the game, a valued customer, deserving respect and worthy of an opinion. Not a consumer who will just accept what is presented as "the way it is".

That fans are able to have their say in the way their clubs are run and that greater opportunity is provided for fans' opinions to be proffered. Most of us are quite intelligent, often more so than some of those making the decisions.

Look I know what you are thinking, I said they were hopes, I suspect the reality will be far different. Stuart Roy Clarke's book does not present a footballing utopia, but highlights the little things you have forgotten about that are missing in the sterilised stadia and money-fuelled, media-hyped modern game. If some of the things I hoped for happen, we might get some of those things back. 

Happy New Year!

PS If someone can tell me at some point during 2011 what (ahem -Sir) Dave Richards does and how he received his knighthood I would be greatly appreciative. Answers on a postage stamp I am guessing, or a two word comment below, ending in All.

 

On a level playing field?

Yesterday, Championship football teams and their fans must have been casting an eye towards South Wales with a touch of envy and a great deal of frustration as Cardiff unveiled their new signing, Craig Bellamy.

That is Craig Bellamy, reportedly on £90,000 per week when he joined Manchester City in January 2009, joining Cardiff, reportedly anywhere between £15-30m in debt, who since December have had 6 winding up orders, have allegedly failed to settle football debts and only 2 days before the start of the season managed to get a Football League transfer embargo lifted.

One factor that must rankle is that Manchester City and their money can seemingly play God not only over other Premiership clubs, but over the Championship as well. A player such as Bellamy should be playing Premiership football, but as soon as relations between Roberto Mancini and him were irrevocably soured, his club were more willing to subsidise his substantial wages than sell him to one of their rivals. The fact that Bellamy was eager to join his hometown club must have helped smooth the move (but let's not forget his claims of being a boyhood supporter of both Liverpool and Celtic when he joined them). How other chairmen and fans must wish that he had been born in Sheffield, Nottingham, Leeds or 20 other towns/cities. However, wherever he went, does it make it right and fair?

The other issue is the continuing financial situation at Cardiff. There is no doubt that football finances in general are not in rude health. It must be a matter of when, not if, a significant club goes to the wall. Cardiff survived the winding up orders over a period of 7 months, during which promises of imminent investment from a Malaysian investor repeatedly staved off HMRC advances, until the investment finally took place. It was of course in HMRC's interest to await investment rather than push through any winding up order, but with a hardening stance from HMRC, other clubs might not be so lucky in the future. Somebody might be made an example of and it will not be a Chester City or Farsley Celtic this time.

The original petition was discharged in June and a transfer embargo lifted, only for a further petition and embargo to be put in place over the Summer. That was then lifted following settlement of outstanding obligations just prior to the season starting. This allowed them to register 4 new signings, Jason Koumas from Wigan and two younger players from Manchester United, Tom Heaton and Danny Drinkwater and Seyi Olofinjana from Hull. Even then, their Chief Executive Gethin Jenkins told the BBC that  they faced "further challenges" and wouldn't rule out a further embargo.  The signing of Bellamy, less than 2 weeks later, has suddenly highlighted this as a possibility.

As the transfer was announced, Leeann Dempster Chief Executive of Motherwell went public with a claim that they were owed (what to them were significant) monies from the sale of Paul Quinn more than a year ago. Now it is common place in modern day football for transfer fees to be spread over the length of players contracts and with numerous additional clauses built in, tracking monies owed and due dates will not be straight forward. I don't suppose that is something that will ever change. However, Dempster claims that the debt is the full transfer fee of £175,000 and it is now 13 months old.  If that is found to be correct, then football needs to take a look at itself. Why was the embargo lifted, allowing players to be signed, when this money was owing? Should there not be rules for settling football debts, given the precedence they somehow still gain in administrations? If it is down to the selling club to lodge a claim, why have Motherwell waited until now?

In the last month we have already seen football teams playing the taxman at a dangerous game, with Sheffield Wednesday quickly building a strong League 1 squad prior to the taxman coming knocking for overdue tax. Wednesday somehow took the moral high ground in apparent disbelief at HMRC's actions yet I think I am right in saying that the debt has yet to be discharged in full. If the taxman is looking at toughening up their stance, then so should the footballing authorities. Tonight, Football League Chairman Greg Clarke has warned that the registration of Bellamy may not be accepted until Cardiff have provided certain assurances to the Football League. He also referred to "an abiding principle that people in business and their personal lives should always pay their debts."  BBC website article Now it is time for him to be a man of actions not words and abide by his principles. Not just with Cardiff (assuming they are found to have defaulted), but on all clubs who think being a football club allows them to operate in a manner which any other business in this country is unable to do and gives them a right to gain advantage over those who abide by more prudent principles.