The Not-So-Premier League

“You think they would have learned from Leeds. Stupid way to run a football club,” Says one football former.

“Definitely. Leeds might be a Premier League club in stature but they just aren’t a top four club, and shouldn’t have tried to be one. When will other clubs learn from us?” Replies the other.

I am, of course, talking about the recent news that Portsmouth has gone into administration after they missed a deadline for a potential takeover.

In the last five years, Premier League clubs have been rapidly increasing their expenditure, both in player wages and transfer fees, and increasingly clubs are spending more than they can afford just to compete in the so-called ‘elite’ Barclays Premier League.

But just how premier is it, if clubs are forced to spend to the point of bankruptcy and immense debt just to be able to compete?

Herein I present a snapshot of fan wisdom and opinion sourced from an unnamed football forum.

“See this is the problem with the EPL and the other top level leagues. WTF is the point of competing in a professional football competition you have no hope of reaching the top of?”

“That’s the point, there is no belief that teams will knock off the top 4 clubs. And without a serious reworking of the television revenue distribution and restraints placed on the free market system there is really no hope of anyone getting there short of a cashed up foreigner doing silly things with money. It’s like the belief that the P/R system gives clubs a chance to get to the top of the pile.”

“The problem is that with the way professional football is set up in the vast majority of markets it’s damn near impossible for any other clubs then the richest to actually compete for the title. This is emphasized by the length of the season due to the number of clubs. The number of clubs and the length of the season is of course directly related to the making of money. There is no football reason for the bottom 4-6 clubs in the EPL to be in the EPL. “

“If ‘the game for the game itself’ is truly desired and if that is what the fans of the mid table no-hope clubs really feel then make a nice amateur comp. Get some guys that train twice a week and hold down jobs to play and don’t charge the fans to get in.”