The day the greed finally killed football

So all the talk today has been about yesterday’s news about the European Super League but should it really have come as a surprise to anyone that the greed took over football.  After all it has been coming for years.

Unfortunately football has been heading this way ever since the Premier League was formed in 1992.  It has become in the 28 years since a game that has lost touch with its roots and ironically some of those within the game who have been vocal in the criticism of the game are amongst those who have happily let it head in this direction for several years (mentioning no names Jurgen Klopp)

The greed that sits in football boardrooms has been seen up and down the country ever since the Premier League paid out in excess of £100m for the side that finishes bottom.   Some clubs can claim horror this morning but when sides like West Ham spend all season getting into Europe only to try and get knocked out as early as possible so they can concentrate on the league then you know football is broken.

The Football Association should have stood up against the sides years ago and prevented this happening.  They should have controlled the money aspects of the game better, stopped players earning in excess of £15m per year and remembered that the game is nothing without the fans.  Fans that have felt pretty distant from the game for many years already.

The European Super League is just another extension of that greed.  The fact that six of ‘our’ clubs have already committed to join the breakaway tells you that it isn’t about the best clubs that Europe can muster it is about the greediest.   And it is no coincidence that the greed starts close to home in the Premier League.

Up and down the country we have fans, teams and politicians alike all criticising the decision but it is not going to be enough to just stop this now.  We stop it now it will only serve to kick the can down the road because the greed will surface again in a few years and will continue to surface until eventually it happens.

What needs to happen is to stop this now and for the authorities and fans to get the game back.  Slow down the money at the top, spread it wider throughout the game and give the game back to the fans to enjoy and keep the competition alive.   Maybe that is just the romantic side of me speaking but it could happen if it was what everyone wanted?

What will end up happening out of this is the same big six that want to stick two fingers up at the game will use it to try and extract more money from the domestic game.  They will “do us a favour” and stay but demand more money to stay at the expense of other clubs.   Closed shop even more.

For the fans of the top six it is time for you to do your bit as well.   Stop buying merchandise, don’t return when the crowds come back, stop all your subscriptions to the club, cut them off with the same contempt that they have shown to you by making this decision.   The clubs they decided that could make do without the fans so make it happen.

The grass roots review of the game that has been promised is desperately needed and it needs to take place without any representation from these six clubs.   Let the review take place and we tell them what they will do rather than the other way around.  These are the clubs who have, after all, destroyed almost a century and a half of history with this decision so, for me, they have forfeited any right that they may have had to be part of any decisions that may shape the future.

In my view now the last 24 hours could be the best thing that has happened to the game in this country for years.  Maybe there is some irony in that the day that the greed killed football could well be the day that we wrestle back control.

And we can do it without those that think they are too good for us.   They can **** off.