Football's Own Goal (Money in Football)

Name: utero

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Product:	Money in Football
Date:	13/10/02 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: There are none

Disadvantages: Less clubs to bring in young talent, Supporters without clubs, Football becomes more business and less sport

English football is now at an all time low when it comes to the financial side of things. You have to question the financial worth of the sport's participants in the reality of it all. In truth there are probably only a handful of clubs now in England that can be considered financially stable. The likes of Arsenal, Newcastle and Man Utd are probably three of the biggest and well supported clubs in the country and it's the word 'support' that makes them that way.

Without the fans the game would be nothing, it wouldn't make much money and merchandise would be incredibly minimal. It's a sad fact that the majority of fans in the UK are now having to take part in a clubs financial dealings in order to keep their club alive. The holy grail of the premiership and Sky initially gave a lot more dedication to the sport but now it's turned it into something that is creating an incredible void between Premier and First Division. My club Norwich narrowly missed going back into the Premier League by penalties in May, however the season was good to us because we had money from TV coverage and the gate receipts from the play-off final in Cardiff were kindly given to the losing team due to a gentlemans agreement before the game between Norwich and Birmingham. However the collapse of ITV Digital has meant that Norwich are still a team in debt and the result was a share scheme that has brought in a coupl of million to the club. But this has all been dependant on the genorousity of the fans. Norwich City supporters have over the past 2 years rediscovered a passion due to the on-pitch events. We're happy to help out if it means our club stays afloat and eventually leaves us financially stable to get into the Premier League and stay there.

Players in the top league must now look at not just their own pockets but their industry in general. No will begrudge anybody taking on offer of £70,000 a week. If a club offers that kind of money then
you'd be stupid to turn it down. However it's now got to the point where wage caps must be looked at. If all the top players lead by example and actually took wage cuts and that extra money was plowed back into the game...well it's be a start. They still earn more than enough cash in a year to keep them in life when they retire.

Many clubs are now in dire financial trouble and the money from TV etc is practically non-existent. Sky have picked up Nationwide league rights in the wake of ITV Digital's collapse but the amount they've paid is complete peanuts in comparison to what the clubs may have got. If clubs collapse due to this then you're not only going to see a lot of players out of work but supporters will have nowhere to go and more importantly there will a lot less clubs to nuture the future talent of the game.

I'd like to TV rights to football spread out a bit more. Sky at the moment have a real hold on the game purely because they can afford to but what's wrong with other TV companies getting a bit more of the game? It'd give money to clubs and give the public more football to see on TV.

I certainly hope it all sorts itself out as I'd hate to see clubs go out of business due to the financial side when decades ago it was purely the football that mattered to the players and not how they might be comprimising their sportswear contract.

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