In so many ways, 2023 was a record-breaking year in football, yet it was also a year that leaves behind as many uncomfortable questions as it does answers.
England came within 90 minutes of winning a first World Cup since 1966, Manchester City marched on, and the whole sport edged further into the arms of Saudi Arabia.
Here’s what I loved – and loathed – this year.
A record-breaking World Cup
Such are the standards set by Sarina Wiegman during her tenure as the manager of England Women, the elimination of hosts Australia and exit of holders USA gave the nation genuine hope of winning consecutive major tournaments. Their eventual deserved defeat to Spain, therefore, was reason for disappointment.
But the World Cup was a triumph on every other level. Australia fell in love with the Matildas, repeatedly breaking records for broadcasting audiences and matchday crowds.
A male-dominated sporting culture showed a genuine belief to engage with a side that, at times, went far beyond their previous interest in the men’s football team.
Back home, the Lionesses continue their journey to the forefront of the national sporting consciousness.
The final was watched by a UK television audience averaging 13.3m, a record for a women’s football match. Mary Earps, awarded the Golden Glove and then Fifa’s Best Goalkeeper award, has become the de facto superstar.
…and then a man tried to overshadow it
For women in football, it can never just be about football. Perhaps that is the ultimate privilege of male sport? You win a tournament, you gain adoration and you celebrate however you like – no caveats.
For women: you win a tournament, gain respect but also open yourself up to misogynistic abuse and when you’re collecting your medal the president of your country’s Football Association touches you inappropriately.
It is a desperate shame that the actions – and subsequent disgraceful words of attempted self-preservation – of Luis Rubiales became the biggest news legacy of the Women’s World Cup. Rubiales clung onto power for as long as he could before eventually resigning and being banned by Fifa from all football activities for three years.
But then is that not the epitome of the climate? At the head of too many organisations in football are too many men who have too much power. To them, women’s sport is not something to be celebrated, but something to be exploited in the pursuit of self-interest. That isn’t progress; it’s subjugation trussed up in a corporate slogan and the bland epithets of faux equality.
Man City achieved an inevitable destiny
It took them longer than many believed was likely particularly when Pep Guardiola’s genius arrived to combine with one of the biggest budgets in world football. City found ways of tripping themselves up year after year, even bringing Guardiola’s reputation under some scrutiny.
But 2023 was the year when Manchester City ruled the continent. Erling Haaland arrived with a reputation in the Bundesliga and quickly made the Premier League look like even easier work – City had a wobble in the autumn but won 12 straight league games in the spring.
They beat Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United on their way to winning the FA Cup and Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in the Champions League before Istanbul. There are no more worlds to conquer.
But 2023 was also the year of charges against Premier League clubs, with City’s by far the most egregious if proved. City are accused of systematic cheating to avoid the limitations of Financial Fair Play. If found guilty, an already questionable legacy will be destroyed.
Saudi Arabia’s great football takeover…
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund made their intentions clear at the back end of 2022, the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo announced on 30 December to establish the intentions of a state looking to diversify from their reliance on oil revenue, to grow as a tourism destination and distract from their human rights record.
Their spending went supersonic during the summer transfer window, when the PIF took majority stakes in four of the biggest Saudi Pro League clubs.
Cue an astonishing spend from a non-elite football division, second only to the Premier League, provoking questions about how much influence Saudi Arabia may gain in European domestic football.
Most of the signings were ageing elite – and non-elite – players after a whacking final pay day, but two were a little more notable.
Ruben Neves is a 26-year-old Portugal international who had previously been linked with Barcelona and Manchester United.
Jordan Henderson had been a public ally for the LGBTQ+ community who then sold his morals for the money and tried to claim that he could help change the culture from the inside.
…and Fifa handed it to them
Between the smattering of matches awarded to South American countries at the 2030 World Cup, the fast-tracking of the bidding process for a tournament 11 years away, and changing of the guidelines over stadium construction to suddenly make their bid viable, you would almost think that Fifa were desperate for Saudi Arabia to get the 2034 World Cup.
Screw the issues of another winter World Cup (or Saudi trying to claim that they can host in summer, as Qatar did). Screw the climate change impact of building so many new stadiums. Screw the naked sportswashing, which Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman even joked about in an interview.
The World Cup used to feel like the pinnacle for supporters. Now it feels uncomfortable to even get excited about the sports’ showpiece event.
Luton’s extraordinary redemption story
In 2014, Luton Town ended a promotion season with an away win against Hyde and returned to the Football League.
Nine years later, at Wembley, they cried and they danced and they pinched themselves and could not quite believe what the PA announcer was telling them: Luton Town are Premier League.
You would struggle to describe anything else at the club in that way. The away end at Kenilworth Road became the social media meme of the summer.
The club shop is gloriously archaic and the stadium itself is a maze of little doors, tunnels and tight spaces. The squad was packed with fighters and triers and those who have worked as hard as their club to get where they were.
But in a sport increasingly decided by wage bills and transfer budgets, Luton became the glorious exception in the Championship.
So just like 2014 in non-league, Luton were where they deserved to be.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/83t7SVD
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