Football - the obscene game?

01 September 2015 09:07

The transfer window is almost at an end. Most football managers will be mightily relieved. Football agents will be gutted. Will Stones sign for Chelsea, will Spurs get their WBA man, or will Arsenal splash the cash for Cavani?

To be honest, who cares? I am becoming deeply disillusioned with the beautiful game. This tag still applies to our footballers trying to earn an honest buck in the lower reaches of the leagues. Not so for our mega-bucks superstars in the Premier League. Premiership football has well and truly lost touch with reality. I hear the pundits say it is the best league in the world. Personally I think that is utter rubbish. Might be the richest league in the world but don't tell me it is the best. I don't want to pick on Manchester City but they have made some major statements in the transfer window. How can other teams compete with this nonsense?

Raheem Sterling is, according to media reports, now earning a cool £200,000 basic wage per week. He has signed a 5-year contract. This means his basic earnings over 5 years will net him a cool £50M. City have paid £49M for the 20-year olds signature meaning this player will have cost them an incredible £100M. They have also just signed Kevin De Bruyne on a 6-year deal and the player is on a reported £230,000 basic week. This means De Bruyne will earn a staggering £69M over this period in basic pay. Along with his wages the player will have cost Manchester City a whopping £124M. The figures are simply eye watering and I don't care what anyone says, no footballer is worth this much money. I would never normally advocate a cap being put on people's wages but when it comes to football, our once called beautiful game has become nothing short of the OBSCENE game. Players at the lower ends can only dream of these types of figures. TV deals are bringing in more and more money so the trend, driven by the petrol-dollar clubs, will simply continue to rise. The half a million a week basic pay will be coming to the Premiership before you know it. Along with a £100M transfer fee. If it’s not going to be this transfer window it will be the next one.

More and more football fans are calling radio shows and having a huge moan, rightly so, about the spiralling wages of the top football players – they do not see a comparable return in terms of talent, skill or goals returned. Is it any wonder there is no passion left in the game, or honour in wearing your national shirt? To top it off genuine football fans are being mugged off with outrageous prices if they want to go and see these upstarts.

There are some major grumblings amongst football fans. However, sad thing is footie fans cannot say anymore “we pay your wages”, as these times have long gone. Gate receipt revenue is now a small percentage in comparison to what the big clubs are earning through advertising and TV deals. Clever campaigns are required by the fans; campaigns that will have to regrettably shame football’s top brass metaphorically banging their heads together to let them know that the fans have had enough. I can’t sit here and remain silent when I see nurses working 80 or 90 hours a week on a pittance, our policemen and women, other civil service workers who have not received a pay rise in 5 years, or many other countless men and women who provide for the communities on pay marginally above the national minimum wage.

Football (fans) need to wake up to this capitalist disease? Wealth needs to be spread far more evenly so that fans and grassroots benefit accordingly. What was the point of Financial Fair Play? I do wonder sometimes where all this is going to end. What do you think? Do I have a point or should I have kept my ink dry?

Source: DSG