I’ve heard so much talk in the past few days about the greed of the English football’s breakaway six but, believe me, there’s always been greed in football.
If I look back on my career, early on in my time in top-flight football, clubs ended the practice of giving 20 per cent of their gate receipts to the away side. Then in 1992, we had the formation of the Premier League – with my old club Everton one of the “Big Five” who drove that through.
Some might say when Sky came in, it was the start of the downfall. Overnight football changed for me because kick-off times were now dictated by a television company. The money changed too. I remember hearing what certain players were earning and I’d think, “Ten grand a week for him? Bloody hell.”
In 1982 I’d asked my manager, Howard Kendall, for an extra fiver a week and he’d said no, but by the mid-90s Everton were able to double my wages overnight. It happened after our other goalkeeper, Paul Gerrard, conceded three in a pre-season friendly at Wrexham just when I’d been in talks with Wolves. That was when I realised there was much more money sloshing around.
What’s also changed is that in the past, every team had somebody who could turn a game on its head. Look at Matt Le Tissier at Southampton; today he’d have found it hard to turn down 300 grand a week from a bigger club.
Now you have the collectors – clubs who collect players, like Man City with two great players in each position, which means you’re taking 11 players from somewhere else who used to play in other teams.
I’ve mentioned greed because while I think these Super League plans are morally wrong, I do see some hypocrisy. When Bury went out of business how many Premier League clubs came to their aid? What did the Premier League do to help Bolton and Wigan? What have the Premier League done to help local-born players with all the foreign talent coming in? How have they protected the game from certain owners? As for Boris Johnson speaking out against it, he is leader of a government which said people wouldn’t have free meals but which gave contracts to their mates.
The simple truth is it’s no longer a working-class sport. These six clubs are corporate businesses run by corporate people who need to make a profit. I hate it as much as anybody but you can’t expect them to say, ‘Let’s all help the little ones out’. They got to the top precisely by stamping on the little ones so why is everyone surprised when they want more power and more cash? Look at the high street: all the history in the high street has gone because it doesn’t make a profit. Isn’t it the same with football?
For the Super League plotters, it makes perfect business sense. It’s not about sport. There are three clubs from London – a city with one European Cup but where the media are based, the big banks and where the tourists want to come. There are certain clubs that get the TV ratings and UEFA have backed down time and again to them for the simple reason that without them there’s no TV audience.
The governing bodies should have realised this was coming as these clubs are like a little kid not used to the word no. They’ve kept on giving them more and more but when do you say enough is enough? One half of me thinks, ‘Well, f*** off then’.
As for the fans, their clubs are incredibly greedy but will Manchester United supporters, for instance, really stop watching their team? When Sky came in, people said, ‘We can’t afford that’ yet ended up watching all the same.
When replica shirts started getting up to 60, 70 quid, people said, ‘We’re not buying one of them’ yet many still did. So will they watch on telly now? Ultimately, I think they will. Whatever happens, though, I expect this to be a long road. And even if it doesn’t come off, these clubs have sent a message about power and control, and that’s what business is about.
More on European Super League
- Explained: Everything you need to know about the European Super League
- The full list of teams joining the ESL, including Premier League ‘big six’
- Man Utd to New York? Arsenal relocated? It’s all on the table now
- Boris Johnson slams ESL plans and vows to work with football authorities
- Fifa president Infantino warns clubs will have to ‘live with the consequences of their choice’
- Supporters backlash: Tottenham fans group could push for sale of club
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3uZkQlY
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