20-09-2016, 16:18
(This post was last modified: 20-09-2016, 16:22 by SaltergateBorn.)
How is having 4 conferences going to make the game more 'exciting', Dev?
I agree that the reduced travelling costs would help financially, but I really can`t accept that a lot of supporters would get any more excitement from watching us play Alfreton Town or Nuneaton rather than Bury. Apart from which, manufactured 'excitement' tends to be short-lived. If you want an example of that, look no further than T20 in cricket; that gave 'excitement' and was a roaring success - briefly. A few years later, crowds are no larger than 50 over games and the powers-that-be are having to try to reinvent it to generate more interest. Would it be totally outrageous of me to suggest that they`ll be doing the same thing again in a few years`time?
I know that by now I`m well into the 'reactionary old fart' category, but I really don`t see the point of change for the sake of change when it isn`t going to achieve anything positive in even the medium term. 'Regionalisation' to the extent of going back to the old Third North and Third South might be sound, on the basis that it would allow a reduction in the games played, but realistically expecting lower league teams to be in favour of reducing their gate receipts is a bit like expecting turkeys to vote for Xmas. It`s not gonna happen, unless they see something to offset it - and I don`t think reducing travelling costs a few times a year will cut it. You`ve taken an extreme case by citing Torquay and Carlisle but for clubs reasonably centrally located - like ours - I don`t think the benefits would be that great in relative terms.
If we want to increase interest in the game at grass-roots level, I am convinced that a successful national team is vital. Like me, Dev, you`re old enough to remember the `66 World Cup and the effect that that had on football attendances in this country. 20+ years of gradual but consistent decline in gates was reversed - virtually overnight - and attendances stayed higher until people turned away from the game in the mid 70s because of the moronic behaviour of some 'supporters' and the threat of violence. You say that people want to watch the likes of Aguero; I agree, but he`s not part of the foreign mediocrity that I was talking about. I would always welcome the likes of him, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin de Bruyne et al because they undoubtedly add something to our game that our own youngsters could learn from BUT there would still be room for the real stars like them if we had a quota system in place. We would, however, also have room for our own to stand a chance of getting a game at the highest level.
At the end of the day - putting aside for a moment the inarguable fact that all supporters want to see their team win and therefore want them to have better players than everyone else - what would the average football follower in this country really want? If you asked them objectively (and by that I mean ignoring their personal club loyalty), would they rather see 70% (and counting) of players in the Premier League being from overseas, the overwhelming majority of whom couldn`t be mentioned in the same breath as the above, or would they rather have a national team that realistically competes at major tournaments and - God forbid - might actually win one occasionally! Sorry, but I really do think that`s a complete no-brainer.
Again to use cricket as an example, some years ago county teams were flooded with Kolpak players who weren`t England qualified; sadly, Derbyshire was one of the worst offenders. I know it`s not the whole story by any means, but would anyone really argue that the quota system imposed on the counties - and the financial penalties that went with it - encouraged the development of our own players and contributed towards the vastly improved performance of the national team?
As regards nurturing and developing young talent, I still hold to what I said earlier; I really can`t see how restructuring the lower leagues is, in isolation, going to contribute anything at all meaningful towards achieving that.
My typing finger - yes, I only use one - is aching now, so I`m going to give it a rest. Further ramblings may, however, follow at some point.......
I agree that the reduced travelling costs would help financially, but I really can`t accept that a lot of supporters would get any more excitement from watching us play Alfreton Town or Nuneaton rather than Bury. Apart from which, manufactured 'excitement' tends to be short-lived. If you want an example of that, look no further than T20 in cricket; that gave 'excitement' and was a roaring success - briefly. A few years later, crowds are no larger than 50 over games and the powers-that-be are having to try to reinvent it to generate more interest. Would it be totally outrageous of me to suggest that they`ll be doing the same thing again in a few years`time?
I know that by now I`m well into the 'reactionary old fart' category, but I really don`t see the point of change for the sake of change when it isn`t going to achieve anything positive in even the medium term. 'Regionalisation' to the extent of going back to the old Third North and Third South might be sound, on the basis that it would allow a reduction in the games played, but realistically expecting lower league teams to be in favour of reducing their gate receipts is a bit like expecting turkeys to vote for Xmas. It`s not gonna happen, unless they see something to offset it - and I don`t think reducing travelling costs a few times a year will cut it. You`ve taken an extreme case by citing Torquay and Carlisle but for clubs reasonably centrally located - like ours - I don`t think the benefits would be that great in relative terms.
If we want to increase interest in the game at grass-roots level, I am convinced that a successful national team is vital. Like me, Dev, you`re old enough to remember the `66 World Cup and the effect that that had on football attendances in this country. 20+ years of gradual but consistent decline in gates was reversed - virtually overnight - and attendances stayed higher until people turned away from the game in the mid 70s because of the moronic behaviour of some 'supporters' and the threat of violence. You say that people want to watch the likes of Aguero; I agree, but he`s not part of the foreign mediocrity that I was talking about. I would always welcome the likes of him, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin de Bruyne et al because they undoubtedly add something to our game that our own youngsters could learn from BUT there would still be room for the real stars like them if we had a quota system in place. We would, however, also have room for our own to stand a chance of getting a game at the highest level.
At the end of the day - putting aside for a moment the inarguable fact that all supporters want to see their team win and therefore want them to have better players than everyone else - what would the average football follower in this country really want? If you asked them objectively (and by that I mean ignoring their personal club loyalty), would they rather see 70% (and counting) of players in the Premier League being from overseas, the overwhelming majority of whom couldn`t be mentioned in the same breath as the above, or would they rather have a national team that realistically competes at major tournaments and - God forbid - might actually win one occasionally! Sorry, but I really do think that`s a complete no-brainer.
Again to use cricket as an example, some years ago county teams were flooded with Kolpak players who weren`t England qualified; sadly, Derbyshire was one of the worst offenders. I know it`s not the whole story by any means, but would anyone really argue that the quota system imposed on the counties - and the financial penalties that went with it - encouraged the development of our own players and contributed towards the vastly improved performance of the national team?
As regards nurturing and developing young talent, I still hold to what I said earlier; I really can`t see how restructuring the lower leagues is, in isolation, going to contribute anything at all meaningful towards achieving that.
My typing finger - yes, I only use one - is aching now, so I`m going to give it a rest. Further ramblings may, however, follow at some point.......