Money is making football predictable (Steve Woods)

It was not as though it was not going to be one of the big four clubs (Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea FC and Arsenal) that was destined to win the league. It was not as though the procession of the big four clubs winning the league was going to end this year. It was not as though a club with money was not going to win the league, again.

The big get bigger and richer. And the rest just make up the numbers and slowly slide down the competitiveness table. And the media and and the FA Premier League twitter on about how wonderful and competitive the league is.

Based on attendance figures for this season, up until this current weekend, a little over nine million (9,020,673) fans attended the homes games of the teams outside of the big four, compared with around four million (4,045,760) who have attended the home games of the big big four. It is quite obvious that the majority of directly involved fans do not support the large teams. What does this prove? Probably nothing. But the column inches filled about the big four by the media do not represent this ratio.

Sports teams, and football clubs in particular, are not typical businesses and the normal practise of the survival of the fittest does not necessarily apply (from a business perspective – on the pitch it is a different matter). They have long term, emotionally attached customers. They operate in rigidly controlled and mandated competitive structures (the leagues) which do not appear in any other business format. It follows then that football, and other sporting codes, need a different set of business rules. Those may include some kind of cap on different parts of the business, including salary, actual transfer spend, etc.

I wonder how the English fan feels about the state of English football. Proud that the FA Premier League is, arguably, the best football league in the world. Happy that he is able to watch some of the best players in the world on a regular basis. Angry because young English players are being pushed out of the top division. Exploited because he is funding the worldwide growth of the brand. Frustrated because the culture of football that made English football famous is slowly being eroded. Sad because the smaller clubs are slowly being pushed aside, and eventually out of existence. Frightened because they will only have four clubs to support in the future.

With all that emotion, who would want to be a English football fan? Or even a surrogate fan in another country.

What is YOUR take on all of this. Add a comment.