Action not Words
Supporters are revolting.
No that is not just the view of any one of a plethora of
club chairmen, but fact, as representatives of the Football Supporters
Federation and Supporters Direct met last weekend at the National Football
Centre in Burton.
The Premier League were of course in the firing line and
deservedly so most of us might opine, but the Football Association were not far
behind in the general opprobrium stakes and
came in for some considerable flak.
Prices and Safe Standing were the issues largely to the
fore at the weekend getting delegates and invited politicians in one heck of a
lather!
As far as the Greedy League...oops sorry.....Premier
League are concerned football is a business first and foremost so I was not at
all surprised to hear them reply to criticism on prices with the old bromide
`it`s not us that set the prices....the clubs do!'. They are impervious to
criticism, a situation bolstered by an inept F.A whose first mistake was to
allow the formation of the Premier League in the first place!
As the FA stagger from one crisis ( and CEO )to the next,
so the Premier League prospers thanks largely to the TV moneys.
What of the lower leagues though.........those outside
the Second Division ( the Championship )and on down the pyramid, what hope do
they have?
Well judged by what has gone before - not much I would
say. Yes......the weekend saw some stirrings and the odd acceptance that Greg
Dyke needed to redress the in-balance between FA and Premier League , but we
have heard it all before ,meanwhile clubs in the lower divisions starved of
meaningful support from above, risk going to the wall on a daily basis!
And...what does the Premier League bring to the top of
its agenda in response?
The league sitting pretty on TV income of £ 5.5 BILLION....yes.....5.5
BILLION £`s, chose to seek a court order forcing ISP`s to stop customers
accessing Swedish web site FirstRow1.eu who stream Premier League matches!
Defending what they hold of course which is
understandable, less so is the lack of action from the FA to ensure a fairer
distribution of the games income, which would aid not only clubs like Stockport
County, but those way down the pyramid. Its the grass roots that matter...let`s
see those who run the game acknowledge this fact and act on it!
Ian Brown
If we start winning a few games this season, who knows, we might start dragging a few cash-strapped City and United fans away from dreamland and back to real football at EP. Lots of things are in place this season that make me optimistic for a happy outcome.
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