Friday, April 1, 2016

Brexit will lead to 400 aces leaving Premier League football clubs

The latest horror story from Project Fear predicts the end of football in this country as we know it. From my perspective I say “Bring It On”. The fat cats at the top of the sport are only frightened that their executive, millionaire lifestyles will suffer, as usual they have no thoughts for the fans, only for their continued seat on the gravy train.

Their claim seems to be that if EU players are no longer free to come here then the value of their product will fall thus resulting in football having to revamp its marketing strategy. Suddenly they will have to concentrate on producing UK footballers who are focused on the game rather than those prima donnas who have no loyalty to the club or the fans but will only play for the club that pays the most.

Suddenly the premier league would no longer be able to command obscene television royalties, the majority of which is not invested back into the game but goes to fuel the cycle of funding mainly the top teams so that they attract even more overseas talent and pad the bank accounts of directors, officials and of course Greg Dyke.

Without the foreign players perhaps football could get back to its roots and teams would again be the focus of local support. Today too many of the top teams, particularly those in London, attract designer fans who are more interested in flaunting their wealth by being able to afford a season ticket in the premium seats From what I have seen many of these Yuppies are more interested in going around in gangs exhibiting the sort of behaviour that has gotten the sport a bad name for years than actually supporting their team in a sportsman like manner. It’s as if the club exists only as a vehicle for their image and ego. I don’t believe for one moment that these Hooray Henrys are really football fans but parvenus looking for the latest trendy brand to show how rich they are.

If If football couldn’t employ the EU players then perhaps there would be a loss of revenue and many of the big clubs would be forced to change their business model; however, maybe this could actually be a blessing for the true fan. Those true fans would then have  a local cub with players who were paid salaries they could identify with. Football could bring back a maximum wage, set at a level that would still give the stars a lifestyle to aspire to, without it divorcing them from the realities of the lives of the people coming through the turnstiles and paying their wages. Clubs would be forced to invest in nurturing home grown talent with an incentive to keep them rather than watching them always having an eye on chasing the next big transfer deal.

Sharing out the money more equally between all the levels of the football association could also mean that the gap between the top clubs, who are only the top clubs because they can afford to be so, would narrow. Therefore fighting for promotion or relegation would be based on footballing ability rather than bank balance.


Taking away the EU players wouldn’t harm the game, it would only harm the rich clubs who currently control it, to the detriment of the real football fans.