19-09-2016, 16:15
Sorry, Dev, but I really don`t see your logic on this one.
The problems you refer to (which I wouldn`t argue with for a second, by the way) are down to the ethos of the Premier League, not the structure of the leagues below it - and I thought that that was what this was all about. The main problem of the lower leagues is that the Premier League, as I have said before on another thread, is a self-serving money machine that doesn`t give a flying wotsit about either the national team or the health of the game as a whole in this country. A lot of Premier League clubs are nothing more than money-laundering operations for foreign 'businessmen' of very dubious financial integrity to wash their dirty money. I`m not averse to criticisng the FA - God knows, they often deserve it - but I do believe that they genuinely have the well-being of the game as a whole in this country at heart. The problem is, they no longer have any power as this was usurped by the financial muscle of the big clubs some years ago - and it looks as though UEFA may well be going down the same drain.
The basic problem of the Football League, as I see it anyway, is that so little of the obscene amounts of money generated and then spent (wasted?) by the Premier League filters down the system. It goes on overseas players of mediocre quality rather than home-grown talent in the lower leagues who could, given experience at the highest level, potentially develop into international class players, if not world class occasionally. If a rule were to be brought that would force our top division to have on the field a minimum number of England qualified players, then surely this would start to happen. we would no longer have this ridiculous situation whereby only about 30% of the players in the Premier League on any given match-day are England qualified - and that figure is falling every year. League clubs would then have a viable market for their best players and would have a financial incentive for nurturing young talent through academies, etc. At the moment, they have little or none.
I really don`t see how the future of the lower league clubs is going to be miraculously transformed by regionalising (familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes), by reducing their revenue as a result of playing fewer games, by bringing in a midwinter break that we don`t need (our winter climate is far milder than the European mainland because of the Gulf Stream) and that would remove the traditional 'bumper crowd' games on Boxing Day and New Years Day and by bring in meaningless cup competitions that attendances (or lack of) show how little interest they attract from supporters, whilst at the same time virtually castrating the one cup competition that does attract our interest - the FA Cup. I really don`t see the point of any of it when it ignores the overwhelming problem.
Perhaps if the wealth of the game were spread more evenly and if we had a more level playing-field as a result, the game could go back to being a sport and less of a 'marketing concept' (yes, I`ve actually heard that phrase used!) that just helps the rich get richer and sod the rest.
The problems you refer to (which I wouldn`t argue with for a second, by the way) are down to the ethos of the Premier League, not the structure of the leagues below it - and I thought that that was what this was all about. The main problem of the lower leagues is that the Premier League, as I have said before on another thread, is a self-serving money machine that doesn`t give a flying wotsit about either the national team or the health of the game as a whole in this country. A lot of Premier League clubs are nothing more than money-laundering operations for foreign 'businessmen' of very dubious financial integrity to wash their dirty money. I`m not averse to criticisng the FA - God knows, they often deserve it - but I do believe that they genuinely have the well-being of the game as a whole in this country at heart. The problem is, they no longer have any power as this was usurped by the financial muscle of the big clubs some years ago - and it looks as though UEFA may well be going down the same drain.
The basic problem of the Football League, as I see it anyway, is that so little of the obscene amounts of money generated and then spent (wasted?) by the Premier League filters down the system. It goes on overseas players of mediocre quality rather than home-grown talent in the lower leagues who could, given experience at the highest level, potentially develop into international class players, if not world class occasionally. If a rule were to be brought that would force our top division to have on the field a minimum number of England qualified players, then surely this would start to happen. we would no longer have this ridiculous situation whereby only about 30% of the players in the Premier League on any given match-day are England qualified - and that figure is falling every year. League clubs would then have a viable market for their best players and would have a financial incentive for nurturing young talent through academies, etc. At the moment, they have little or none.
I really don`t see how the future of the lower league clubs is going to be miraculously transformed by regionalising (familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes), by reducing their revenue as a result of playing fewer games, by bringing in a midwinter break that we don`t need (our winter climate is far milder than the European mainland because of the Gulf Stream) and that would remove the traditional 'bumper crowd' games on Boxing Day and New Years Day and by bring in meaningless cup competitions that attendances (or lack of) show how little interest they attract from supporters, whilst at the same time virtually castrating the one cup competition that does attract our interest - the FA Cup. I really don`t see the point of any of it when it ignores the overwhelming problem.
Perhaps if the wealth of the game were spread more evenly and if we had a more level playing-field as a result, the game could go back to being a sport and less of a 'marketing concept' (yes, I`ve actually heard that phrase used!) that just helps the rich get richer and sod the rest.