In a world that is obsessed with money football has became a game for millionaires and billionaires. The fan in the street have to pay ridiculous amounts of money to see their heroes play and this may be the downfall of the so called beautiful game. More and more people are saying it’s getting too expensive for them to go the match and take their children along. I think it’s about time the big clubs stopped thinking about business for one minute and think about the effect they are having on the ordinary fan.
Chairman of Everton Football Club recently revealed that he felt clubs now need billionaire chairmen rather than millionaire chairmen. He also revealed that he thinks the gulf between the so called ‘big four’ at the top of the premiership and the other teams is getting so big financially that it will be hard to break into the top four.
Everton have managed to break that monopoly on a relatively tight budget and have also finished 5th last season but its big money that is needed at the second tier clubs to be able to keep up with Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool. They receive so much from the Champions League pot that their wealth just keeps growing and the can afford better quality players.
This results in a catch 22 situation for all the chasing pack. They spend money to try to make money or they just accept the fact that it’s impossible to catch the big four. The big example of a team trying to spend to make money is Leeds United. Leeds spent big to buy better players and broke into the top four in the early 2000s. The problem was after a few years at the top they dropped out of the big four so the Champions Leagues money disappeared.
That led to Leeds being in huge financial trouble and having huge debts. The club had to sell of their star players who were on incredible wages. The players that were left in the Leeds squad were just not good enough to survive in the Premier League. That meant Leeds then lost their Sky Television money which put them further in debt. Relegation from the Championship to League One followed. Leeds a former giant of English football are an example of why the chasing pack are happy at the moment just to finish 5th.