@martin-bellamy - There is much truth and humour in that Guardian article, Martin. I suppose supporting ANY football club might be seen as something of an abusive relationship. It might be that the supporters of Arsenal and Villa will have enjoyed the season and may still enjoy it when they look back on it in 6 months' time. But imagine if Manchester City win "only" the FA Cup, having been dumped out of the Champions League recently and on the assumption the League title were not to be retained this season! Imagine if Liverpool, having won "only" the League Cup but then failed to win Klopp's last tilt at the League, and equally finding themselves recently dumped out of their European compeititon even if it wasn't the "Big One". Neither the City nor the Liverpool fans would then be so happy, would they? I suppose if one of last year's promoted clubs manages to escape relegation, that club's fans would be over the Moon, but nobody would put money on that happening.
There are many reasons why people might be unhappy about football and the results or even the performances on the field are only part of the story. For the "top clubs" there are concerns (and demonstrations being held) about ticket prices going up and up, despite for many clubs the fact that the turnstile money represents only a small faction of the budget of those clubs. For the big clubs sponsorships, TV money and commercial income from kit sales etc dwarf the money paid for tickets, and that is to ingore the enormous pockets the of the billionaire/state-funded ownerships of those clubs for whom ticket money must seem almost an irrelevance. It is, of course, much different for a club like BORO.
Football supporters have to be segregated "for their own protection" which is sadly a sign of the times but so unilke other sports such as cricket or rugby. I can understand that but there are other infractions on liberty that football supporters have to put up with. Why can't I drink alcohol in sight of the pitch and players if I want? Why are away fans bussed in and out by the Police? (Well, I know what the Police might say to that but, again, it only applies to football supporters). Away supporters sometimes being held in grounds to allow home supporters to have dispersed before they can leave the ground. The dates and the kick-off times being re-arranged, sometimes at short notice, to allow the game to be televised, without any thought given to those who might have made travel arrangements (or even an hotel room) for that away fixture. Or even family events and timetables, which have been altered to allow attendance at the match, having to be re-arranged if it IS possible to do so. How about the Newcastle supporters expected to get to the South Coast for an early kick-off, or matches being played in the evening at a time which makes public transprt an impossibility?
It may be the case that, for some, it is the supporters who are the incovenience rather than the bedrock of the game and the reason professional football is played at all.
I guess that if this season ends with Everton having survived its Premier League season, the club's fans will be grateful for small mercies. "At least he (or she) didn't hit me when he got home!" But for most football clubs, there are no prizes won just as, for many supporters, they can only reasonably expect failure, disappointment and poor performances. If they stay in their current positions, will Manchester United fans (a 5% chance of winning the FA Cup but otherwise 7th and cupless), Newcastle United (6th and with no silverware AGAIN) or Chelsea (still smarting after a 5-0 thrashing at Arsenal and 9th - NINTH - in the league), or even Chamnpionship supporters at Sunderland, West Brom or Norwich be feeling good about football, their club or life in general? For some football clubs it may be that the "love" goes in only one direction. How long that can go on for is another question. Maybe it can be answered when there is another "Super-Duper Sunday" showing Crystal Palace v Bournemouth followed by Brentford v Wolves with rows of empty shiny seats on display? I won't go on....
Cardiff match day thread will be up tomorrow sometime.
As you so correctly say be careful what you wish for, that is a really good article that is well observed and seen. I thought at the time that they should have been allowed to go, if only as a modernisation of the football pyramid. Easy to say I know but at some point it will happen and then maybe, just maybe, the cups would mean something again as would the top league.
The big question is where would the power lie in their private Xanadu? A champion and ten or twelve joint seconds. No bottom club, no relegation, no arguing over money, a truly democratic league. Entry by invitation? In your dreams and no way back into the English pyramid I would hope and no featuring in the FA Cup or League Cup or whatever it would be called. Maybe we could have replays again?
Just like being a Boro fan you can but dream and that is part of the fun, that's what I tell myself behind the couch anyway.
UTB,
John
With regard to the question “Should the 6 have been or should be allowed to leave for a European Super League” brings to mind the question “ Would Sky be willing to invest the same amount of money into what is left”, would the world audience stop (or vastly reduce) watching the Premiership and switch to the European Super League, leading to less income to the English leagues 🤔. Would English football return to the pre Sky days and how many foreign players would want to come to England to ply their trade.
Come on BORO.
I think the answer is "who cares?". I would be delighted if the English game reverted somewhat to what existed before the advent of the Premier League. You don't need the best individual players in the world on the park to be entertained and enthralled. What you need are two teams that reasonably well matched playing in a competition that gives every team involved a reasonable chance of achieving some degree of successWith regard to the question “Should the 6 have been or should be allowed to leave for a European Super League” brings to mind the question “ Would Sky be willing to invest the same amount of money into what is left”, would the world audience stop (or vastly reduce) watching the Premiership and switch to the European Super League, leading to less income to the English leagues 🤔. Would English football return to the pre Sky days and how many foreign players would want to come to England to ply their trade.
Come on BORO.
Somehow, QPR managed to put four past the Dirties without reply at Loftus Road, but there was an incentive: safety from relegation for Rangers.