It Must Be Funny . . . In A Rich Club's World!

Hello folks and thanks for tuning in!

Some band who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974 - what happened to them?!

I believe it was this band who famously sang about it being rather funny "in a rich man's world" ( it was a number 3 in the charts back home when I was nothing but a little lad in Back Lane Congleton in 1976!)

The same can be said of the life of a modern day football club. Recently, the British transfer record was broken by Chelsea when they paid 50 million pounds for Liverpool's Fernando Torres. A staggering amount you'll agree.

I'm moved to write about this because yesterday ( 9th February ) was the 32nd anniversary of England's first 1 million pound transfer - Trevor Francis ( see below picture ) joined Nottingham Forest from Birmingham City



Here's Trevor scoring the winning goal for Forest in the 1979 European Cup Final against Sweden's Malmo - a worthy investment methinks?

Trevor Francis's transfer was a big deal back then. People were shaking their heads in disbelief. Alf Common crept into football's conversation.



Alf Common : the first 1,000 pound man - not quite Steve Austin, but close enough back in 1905!



Who's he you might ask? Well, he was the first 1,000 pound transfer back in 1905. I remember people getting giddy when the record fee was 300,000 pounds back in 1974 when Bob Latchford went from Birmingham to Everton. Enough of the history and let's whizz forward to the present day situation.

Is anyone worth 50 million pounds? That really is the question. Football is, in my mind, a unique profession. Unless you are truly gifted talent wise and look after yourself ( Good Morning Ryan Giggs! ) your career is relatively short. The game today appears to be awash with money. Players are paid staggering amounts of money. Bonuses for winning trophies are colossal.

Now, I've always defended players. If you work in an industry that wants to pay you more in a week than what your average match going fan ( like I was ) earn in 5 years  you aren't going to turn your nose up at it, are you?

However, I really feel the game I love can learn something from the NFL. I'm talking of a salary cap. Something like this will have to happen sooner rather than later because UEFA last year passed into existence their "Financial Fair Play" rules. They come into effect in the next couple of years.

These new rules basically say ". . .  clubs may not spend more than the income they generate. Clubs will also be assessed on a risk basis, in which debt and salary levels are taken into consideration. They will have to ensure that liabilities are paid in a punctual manner. The regulations and criteria laid down are also designed to help stimulate long-term planning for areas such as youth development and improving/upgrading sports installations. "

Michel Platini, once a gifted French midfielder in his day and now UEFA's President, says that the idea is to put stability back into the game and to stop excessive spending. Yet the Premier League just spent something like 215 million pounds on players in the January transfer window! Chelsea spent 70 million on two players yet at the same time announced losses of 70 million pounds. My beloved Reds are up to their eyeballs in debt courtesy of the high debt saddled to the club by Malcolm Glazer when he bought the club in 2005. As the Americans might say - Helllllloooo???!!!!

Clubs need supporters to make the game an entertaining spectacle. Atmosphere is a primary ingredient in the mix of football. Players, Managers and fans have an equal responsibility to make the product worth watching for those of us who can't get to games for whatever reason. I paid 1 pound when I first went to United back in 1983 - last time, when I took Linda, it was 40 pounds - each! Fans need to be have affordable football, otherwise more teams like AFC Wimbledon and FC United of Manchester will appear.

Clubs need to remember their roots. They are an integral part of a community. Yes, the "community" is bigger now as globalization makes the world a smaller place, but, the fan who lives in Stretford or Congleton is just as important as the fan in Beijing or Los Angeles if you catch my drift.

TV Companies pay a lot of money to televise games. Over the years we've become used to games being "skyjacked" - kick off times manipulated by Sky TV to suit their needs - this doesn't happen over here in the States. Never. Yet here's the real worry - sometimes TV companies over here "black out" games that haven't sold out. That would be a crying shame if it ever happened in England.

Maybe the solution in England is for free to air Commercial TV ( ITV ) and the BBC to work together and fight satellite TV. Live football should be able to be seen by everyone. They work together when it comes to the World Cup and the European Championships. Come on ITV and BBC - work together for the common good! There's a bit of socialism for you and no mistake!

Oh well, rant over for today - enjoy your football wherever you see it.

Eddie