Could this be the start of the end for the identity of English football?. With news filtering out today that the Premier league clubs have agreed to looking into the possibility regarding playing an extra game a season in varied venues around the world it seems a distressing time for English fans. We have always been a passionate nation about our beloved game, we invented the sport. But this must truly be the first step in many that will see our own beloved football clubs lost forever to us. Yes, it is only a preliminary meeting regarding this venture but it is a major set back for fans that hold their clubs so dear to them. This is no doubt based around revenue as it always does, but we also need to think about the consequences of such radical steps. Firstly the burn out of international players, an extra game a season in the hectic period of January will put players like Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney up to around 70 games a season. In the long term this could be more than just one game extra to be played with that they will have shorter break periods during off season due to this, which is surely detrimental to the standard of football that the fans pay so much to see already. Only last week Carlos Tevez who has not had a proper off season for over two years now has admitted to being exhausted and the wear and tear of Premiership football was taking effect on his body. Is this what we want to see for our own national players?, there is no question now that the Premiership is the biggest league in the world, in revenue and viewing figures. This is mainly due to the standard of play that we now have, it is fast and furious but with a very high standard of technical ability. This I think will change if players are to travel further a field for league games, for example if Manchester United are to play Chelsea in Melbourne in the first week of January, then four days later they are to play Spurs in London. That is an astronomical amount of miles that need to be made to play two games of football.
What has been put forward by the Premiership is that an extra game in the January period is to be played. The Premiership will auction off the games to the highest bidder, the areas that the premiership is looking into is the far east, middle east, Australia and the U.S. The packages that will be offered out will be two fixtures that are to be played in one stadium, that in total makes five packages that will be put up for auction. The Premier League Chief Executive Richard Scudamore said today ‘The ‘International round’ is an exciting and innovative proposal that needs careful consideration before being introduced. However, this concept recognises the truly global appeal of the Barclays Premier League whilst understanding that the traditions of the English game have always underpinned our success. We believe that an ‘International round’ of matches will enhance the strength of the Barclays Premier League as a competition; create extra interest in all 20 Premiership clubs at home and abroad; and allow increased investment in talent development and acquisition, facilities as well as our football development and community programmes.’ This I say is a very diplomatic response into something the league have seriously been pondering for a long time now.
Maybe the clubs will argue their case and state that they are trying to bring games to fans that are all over the world, or even say that the revenue made will help them lower tickets for fans in England. But that will be just sugar coated propaganda, the simple fact now is that every club in the Premiership is run as a business and if the figures add up then they will do it and say damn to the consequences. If this notion is passed it will be the start of a very well devised plan by the big wigs, after a certain period of time has passed to see if this idea works, then a the concept of a world league will be brought into fruition. This has been a plan devised and spoken about by the members of G-14, the super powers of European football. The warning signs are already there for people to look at, players like Ronaldinho and Adriano who were two of the best players on the planet only a year ago but are now being offered left, right and centre to clubs who are willing to pay the big money for them. They have suffered from severe burnout and personal issues, due to flying from country to country for sponsors, national games and charities. With this matter you could see the next Wayne Rooney retiring aged 27 due to injury, where his body was unable to cope with the amount of games played every year and not being able to let their body recuperate from the previous game. The examples are already there to be looked at, so I ask myself, are the fans just going to sit there and watch it happen? Or will spokespeople from every club stand up and give an opinion from the perspective of a purely football view that isn’t not money driven.
There is also another opinion that the gap between the big clubs in the premiership and the smaller clubs in the lower league will just get bigger. There is already a big gap in revenue between the leagues, for example West Ham in the Premier League and Bristol City in the division below in the Championship; they are miles apart in comparison. West Hams highest paid player is Freddy Ljungberg and Craig Bellamy who are on £60,000 a week that compared with Bristol City’s top paid player that is over 12 times the amount. This gap will only get bigger if this plan does go through for the 2010/2011 season. There are others factors that must be taken into account like security, are places like Bangkok and Beijing ready for all seater stadiums that will have to apply to law within in this country about health and safety relating back to the late 1980’s, you could get crowd violence if there is no segregation in the stadiums also There are so many issues that have not been answered.
