Many of you will disagree with what I write here (often) but this is my honest assessment of where football for all Premier League clubs is heading. Never has this been witnessed so clearly than at Old Trafford yesterday.
Premier League football is a product and a product has customers and those customers need entertaining in what they want, not, necessarily, in a way that's in the interest of football.
As more and more clubs are stock market listed the Director's responsibilities change from a traditional Board at a club to one with legal responsibilities to it's shareholders, and these responsibilities, however much you disagree with them MUST be met.
A once great club is now merely a ticker on the stock market, a club once measured on its success on the field will be equally measured by percentage point movements in its share price.
Football is now secondary to the commercial interests of a football club, it has to be, that is the law, you cannot now risk everything on a Champions League win you must ensure there is a continual focus on your brand and how that builds around the World. Fans are customers and are becoming tourists, it was so clear last night, barely anyone, other than Albion fans cheering the players off at the end. And they'd just reached the Semi Finals of the FA Cup.
Why should we worry?
With this brand building comes lucrative contracts and with that comes sponsors and sponsors demands, demands that see clubs go to far flung places to enter tournaments that are not in the interest of the club and it's league position but bring in much need supporters and build the brand. On the flip side this brings in cash and that can be spent on players with immediate skills the club needs, there won't be a need or commercial plan that makes sense to grow talent, just buy the best player from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia and increase the fan base yet further. We have a choice, and it's a stark one, we either join this brand building and attempt to keep up, or not let the gap increase yet further, or we can't compete.
We needn't worry the TV money will always be there, but in Asia and around the World will come the demand and football grounds will become sanitised and crowd noises introduced to make up for the lack of atmosphere.
The Championship and League One will survive off the crumbs of the EPL and, slowly the Championship will be absorbed into the EPL or EPL II.
I fear two trips to Old Trafford this season have shown me where football is heading and I, for one, know we need to join the circus otherwise we'll fall too far behind to ever compete, and that makes me sad.
Whinge over I'm off to take the dog for a walk ......
UTA
Premier League football is a product and a product has customers and those customers need entertaining in what they want, not, necessarily, in a way that's in the interest of football.
As more and more clubs are stock market listed the Director's responsibilities change from a traditional Board at a club to one with legal responsibilities to it's shareholders, and these responsibilities, however much you disagree with them MUST be met.
A once great club is now merely a ticker on the stock market, a club once measured on its success on the field will be equally measured by percentage point movements in its share price.
Football is now secondary to the commercial interests of a football club, it has to be, that is the law, you cannot now risk everything on a Champions League win you must ensure there is a continual focus on your brand and how that builds around the World. Fans are customers and are becoming tourists, it was so clear last night, barely anyone, other than Albion fans cheering the players off at the end. And they'd just reached the Semi Finals of the FA Cup.
Why should we worry?
With this brand building comes lucrative contracts and with that comes sponsors and sponsors demands, demands that see clubs go to far flung places to enter tournaments that are not in the interest of the club and it's league position but bring in much need supporters and build the brand. On the flip side this brings in cash and that can be spent on players with immediate skills the club needs, there won't be a need or commercial plan that makes sense to grow talent, just buy the best player from Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia and increase the fan base yet further. We have a choice, and it's a stark one, we either join this brand building and attempt to keep up, or not let the gap increase yet further, or we can't compete.
We needn't worry the TV money will always be there, but in Asia and around the World will come the demand and football grounds will become sanitised and crowd noises introduced to make up for the lack of atmosphere.
The Championship and League One will survive off the crumbs of the EPL and, slowly the Championship will be absorbed into the EPL or EPL II.
I fear two trips to Old Trafford this season have shown me where football is heading and I, for one, know we need to join the circus otherwise we'll fall too far behind to ever compete, and that makes me sad.
Whinge over I'm off to take the dog for a walk ......
UTA
