Debate Futile In Laying Supporters' Fears To rest

There are few prizes for guessing what our main topic of discussion is today. There we were last week discussing how best to develop the England team, in the aftermath of Fabio Capello’s first match in charge. While at the same time, facing up to the depressing prospect of trying to get enthusiastic about watching Czech Republic versus Holland this summer, when Richard Scudamore, Chief Executive of the Premier League announces plans to hold an additional round of fixtures to the Premier League Programme to be played abroad. This would entail a seeded draw of additional matches to be played over one weekend in five different cities around the world. This is so far removed from the views of ordinary supporters, managers and respected commentators as to be laughable, not to mention completely against the best interests of the fitness of English players.

RTG is all for expanding revenue-making ideas for the Premier League, especially if that money is equitably distributed and finds its way to, not only the lower leagues, but to the development at the grass roots and, therefore, international level. After all, we don’t want to turn back the clock now. We are where we are. But this revenue ‘expansion’ idea is too high a price to pay and exactly what will it achieve?

Firstly, this totally changes the competition within the league – a league that has been going for 120 years - with one home and away fixture against every team as its basis. Scudamore’s proposal makes a nonsense of this competition.

Secondly, is it right that the Premier League parks itself in countries that, either have their own well-developed leagues, or have fledgling competitions that they are trying to develop? No doubt Scudamore and the Premier League bosses have taken the recently staged NFL game at Wembley as their inspiration, but then there is no developing American Football league in England to speak of.

Thirdly, one of the stated aims is to increase the Premier League’s supporter base in these cities/countries. But again taking the NFL game at Wembley as an example, what did that game actually achieve? RTG suspects strongly that the majority of those attending were American expats/servicemen rather than ‘native’ limeys who are now suddenly avid supporters of the New York Giants or the Miami Dolphins. It certainly pissed off the Dolphins fans because they lost one of their home games (one of only eight).

Do the Premier League really believe that these one-off, contrived fixtures will boost the supporter base in these cities/countries? There may well be marginal take up of new supporters, but then if a replica shirt costs the equivalent of one month’s wages, as it does in some of the proposed locations, what real scope is there for ‘exploitation of opportunities within these target markets’? RTG could see a lot of scope for arguments over where individual clubs would prefer to go in order to maximise revenue opportunity. Los Angeles or Calcutta? No contest!

Until RTG hears of a better proposal, we still believe that we should go the whole way with showing every game live, on a pay-per-view basis, again as long as the revenue is equitably distributed throughout the English game. If that means Chinese or Indian supporters having to buy a TV season ticket and watch it at unsocial hours of the night so be it. If the Premier league is as popular in these countries as they keep telling us, they will surely be prepared to do it. Likewise, if they feel compelled enough to visit England, they can pick the club they wish to visit and watch. On a cautionary note, one only needs to look at the Premier League’s deal with a Chinese free-to-air TV channel for last season which predicted audiences of 30 million, only to find that actual viewing figures were so small as to not warrant a rating.

The really scary point, which RTG has raised in previous postings, is that, forget what supporters want, or the opinions of club managers, players or administrators, it only requires the vote of 14 Premier League club owners and it’s a done deal. Ten of those owners have arrived within the last few years – wonder which way they are likely to vote?

Reclaim the Game – The Weekend’s Events

Roll Moddle No.1. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake of Wolverhampton Wanderers has been charged with causing bodily harm after a night club bouncer was smashed over the head with a bottle. He’s due in court on 20th February.

Whilst the minute’s silence was impeccably observed by all at Old Trafford (apart from someone letting off fireworks outside), the emotional wave seemed to have overwhelmed the United players as they lost 2-1 at home to City. Note that the 40th anniversary didn’t go according to plan either with a lucky 1-1 draw against struggling Bolton. Perhaps, they should simply have kicked off at 3:04pm (the time of the disaster) as a symbolic final laying to rest of the disaster. No doubt, though, the 60th anniversary will provide revenue opportunities too good to pass up.

The African Cup of Nations was won again by Egypt who beat Cameroon 1-0 in the final. Despite the pundits talking up the tournament and some genuinely spectacular goals, the overall impression RTG got was that it is not of a standard or suitably well-attended to merit being held every two years. If RTG’s desire to see a world schedule is to be realised, it has to go to every four years (irrespective of history and tradition) and be scheduled in a compatible manner with European/World competitions. Otherwise, RTG suspects that African players may well soon start to disappear from top sides in the leagues.

Hat’s Off. Take Bow(Or Not)!

Player of the Week – John Carew. OK it was only Newcastle who seem to be shipping goals a plenty as well as losing now Big Sam has departed but a hat-trick is always worth a mention.

Villain of the week – Richard Scudamore. See Above. Special mention also to the people who let off fireworks during yesterday’s minute’s silence.

Heroes of the Week – Manchester City fans even if they were encouraged by a special letter from David Gill and a 20p Taiwanese, sweat shop-made scarf in City colour.

Shock of the Week - Manchester City winning 2-1 at Old Trafford. Their first double over United since the 1969/70 season and their first win at Old Trafford since 1974. Maybe their fans earned themselves some good karma with their excellent behaviour.

Cliche of the Week - "Looking a little jaded after international duty midweek." Who knows the reasons why exactly but so many games in 'The Best League in the World' were decidedly lacklustre this weekend.

Grand Slam Sunday Just Reinforcing the Status of England's Elite

‘Grand Slam Sunday’, or was it, ‘Super Sabbath’, came and went. In the end, not so much Grand or Super anything really, more Damp Squib. Not because both games weren’t interesting. They were quite compelling, in fact, if you were a supporter of any of the teams involved, or, if you were a ‘cognoscenti’ of football tactics. Nothing much has been decided from the match results, although it has probably confirmed the outcome of the premiership – a three way fight between Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United, with Liverpool bringing up the coat tails of the so called Big Four. The hype though for the matches was, to put it into the modern football vernacular, “massive”. Sky, as is their wont, started the build up weeks ago. No doubt Richard Keys, Sky’s Grand-Super Slam presenter, had his stock of long winded rhetorical questions prepared even before that. Even the BBC was mesmerised enough to switch the Match of the Day (Two!) highlights programme from ‘dead air’ BBC2 Sunday post 10pm slot, onto mainstream BBC1 to accommodate Super-Grand Sabbath.

As usual, the hype over-awed the events. Disturbingly, though, the mainstream Premiership and Football League programmes were almost completely overlooked. Is this what English football has amounted too? Ever more predictable in form and shape, are we to go the route of Scottish and other European national leagues, where nobody but the predictable two or three forever win the major honours? Like Scotland, the lack of competitiveness for major honours is being echoed throughout European Leagues. It is well over two decades since the either of the Glaswegian Big Two relinquished their title. After all, we have the predictable regular members of the European Champions League from Spanish, German, Italian and French leagues, supported by the usual crowd from Norway, Ukraine, Russia and the Balkans.

Supporters surely want a competitive league and the lack of this competition is being reflected in crowd attendances at matches outside of the Big Four. Five to ten years ago, it was practically impossible to buy a ticket on match day for a Premiership game. Now, apart from the Big Four, you can get a ticket on the day for most games. Indeed, gone are the days when Manchester United or Arsenal would draw a full stadium to Middlesbrough or Bolton, for instance. Current economic conditions will only serve to exacerbate the problems as people question more strongly the priorities of their spending: save for a rainy day or spend a couple of ton on taking my kids to a game when I know we won’t win, or, will be rolled over by a Big Four team?

But, what of the world wide support and viewing public? The world wide market is increasingly making its mark. TV, from outside of the UK, is changing football dynamics. Whether it's in the form of a Vietnamese beer commercial (unavailable in the UK) being put out on the Emirates advertising boards or the rumoured changing of kick off times to suit Asian markets. Payments for televising football on overseas rights are paltry compared to what are paid by Sky, Setanta and the BBC for their various television packages in the UK. Big matches have viewing figures of 5-8 million in the UK, maybe double digit millions for the FA cup final. Overseas the viewing figures run into hundred’s of millions if not billions. Logically, it must follow that as there are hundreds of millions of viewers ex-UK, that these are far more profitable for the broadcasters and advertisers than UK viewers – especially given the low amount that the Premiership receives for overseas rights. It must therefore also follow that, as those ex-UK markets get economically stronger, - and they will - broadcasters will want to maintain or increase those audience figures. How do they do that? Well, they just keep showing the so called popular Big Four and thus keep perpetuating and maintaining the elite in English football.

RTG believes that we need to open the market completely to television – given that RTG cannot see a way that we can move away from football commercialisation – but controlled and suitably shared by all in the Premiership and in English football – yes, including Burton! All matches available for viewing by all. The revenues would be so great, that inevitably, there will be huge arguments over the spoils. But they would dwarf anything that is available now. Yes, it might well be a recipe for disaster, but that is what we are heading for anyway. At least this gives a huge benefit for the UK balance of payments, rather than the faceless multinational corporations who are gorging themselves on football money. It might just save the soul of football. It might just bring about a more equitable environment. If billions can be made from one match – and just one billion dwarfs the total annual revenue of all Premiership clubs – then that money could just build a generation of sportsmen and women to match England’s potential.

Or, it could just go into a few players/managers/agents and the pockets of other hangers on. If we, the supporters who care about the game, do not get a say in how it is run, that's exactly where all the money will end up. RTG thinks we can have the voice. Join us.

Reclaim the Game - The Weekend's Events

• Fabio Capello confirmed the worst kept secret in football and took the England job. He had ac tually stated he really wanted the job. Which makes you wonder why the FA were so keen to sign him up and at such expense. There was no particular rush so perhaps Brian Barwick might have bided his time. Or was it the case that he just couldn't bear to look a fool again if he'd lost Capello. The Italy national manager earns £1.5M per year. Spain £350K per year and Billic at Croatia earns £47K per year. At £6M per year for Capello could RTG suggest that Brian Barwick is not the best negotiator in the world?
• Tom Hicks' son proposed to his girlfriend in the centre spot 24 hours before Liverpool's game with Manchester United as he gave her a tour of the stadium. Given the current state of Hicks and Gillet's financial plans for the new stadium, it is likely he'll be able to take her back for their 10th anniversary.
• David Beckham's recent modelling gig for Georgio Armani underwear raised a few eyebrows and indeed a few questions in Posh's direction as to whether he'd fortified himself down below with a pair of Galaxy football socks. Posh was quick to defend Davids saying the meat and two veg was all genuine. However, a fashion commentator was heard to remark, "he looks to me like he's all veg and no meat."

Hats off Take a Bow (or not)!

Player of the Week - Marcus Bent. For his impressive hatrick in Wigan's 5-3 demolition of Blackburn. Special mention to Roque Santa Cruz for his hatrick in the same game. Sadly he finished on the losing side.

Villain of the Week - Asylum and Immigration Tribunal for deporting Watford's Al Bangura who fled Sierra Leone aged 15 and made it to Watford where Adie Boothroyd had high hopes for him. Talk about going for the low hanging fruit!

Hero of the Week - Fabio Capello. Well here's hoping!

Shock of the Week - Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 Celtic 2. Given that ICT are now in the top flight it is not quite as big a shock as the 'super caly go balistic, Celtic are atrocious!' days of old, but a shock nonetheless. Even more so as they were two nil down.

Cliche of the Week - Anything with the word 'Fab', 'Fab-ulous', 'Fabio'. Think you get the drift!

Force Fed TV Diet Leaves Supporters Hungry

So, three o'clock Saturday comes, switch on Sky Soccer Saturday and what do we find? One Premiership fixture only. What with European commitments and TV scheduling the vast majority of Premiership matches were moved to Sunday kick offs varying from 12:00pm to 4:10pm. Perhaps the most cruel of all, Sunderland fans being asked to travel early on Sunday to get to London for a midday start. Anyone who uses trains on a Sunday in this country will know that is not a pleasant prospect. If you are attending matches, home, away or neutral, this raises some important logistical issues. Without a fixed schedule, the disruption to arrangements is another headache and inconvenience to the long-suffering football supporter. Nowadays it has become almost impossible to plan well in advance to attend matches.

Judging by a limited fans survey on BBC Football Focus website, only 32% found this to be a problem. What the survey does not say is whether these were attending supporters or merely TV viewers - both of whom deserve to have their needs met in our opinion. But this does throw up a very important point. Why can't supporters pay to view whatever match they wish to view when it is being played? Not just Manchester United versus Liverpool or Arsenal versus Chelsea, but every game in every league. Cameras are there anyway so additional technical costs would presumably be minimal. At the moment we are force fed whatever matches TV companies agree to show and the way contracts are drawn up, clubs have to be shown a certain number of times. Blackburn versus Wigan for example, will presumably be very interesting to supporters of those sides but frankly leaves most neutrals pretty cold. By having to make this commitment, many matches shown hold little interest to neutrals - gone are the days when TV-starved football supporters would watch any live match being screened. Conversely, it is unfair on supporters of say Wigan, who invariably get to see their team live only when they are being thrashed by one of the Big Four. This has undoubtedly led to supporter 'fatigue' where TV is concerned. Without going into specific details, mainly because we haven't got them, our limited research shows that, whilst the numbers of Sky subscribers has increased significantly, viewing figures for individual matches are falling.

With this mind, RTG calls for all matches to be live with a simpler, fixed schedule. This would allow supporters to view whatever match they choose or attend matches with improved ability to plan ahead. What?! Showing all matches live will hit attendances won't it? Well, we're not so sure it will in fact. Firstly, most keen supporters currently attend matches even when they are on live and will continue to do so. Secondly, the cost for neutral supporters simply to attend a game because they 'fancy it' has become prohibitive. In addition, over-hyped, media-fuelled rivalries have led to many supporters to feel that they are betraying their own team if they attend as a neutral, especially as they are filling the coffers of a potential rival.

We believe that having all matches live will increase significantly the revenues to football in general. Aaah, we here you say. All that this will do is to propel the so-called Big Four into a financial stratosphere that will forever render competition as meaningless. Not so. Clearly, a much more equitable form of distribution across both the Premiership and the Football League must be introduced.

In the end, we have no empirical evidence to support what the impact will be. However, we believe it is only a question of time before it will happen but we want to be in a position where the game as a whole benefits not just a few wealthy owners. This echoes a key platform for the reasoning behind our campaign to Reclaim the Game. It is clear that the corporate vultures circling the English Premiership would push for this in their own interests. Consider this. The worldwide audiences for a key Premiership clash can measure in the hundreds of millions if not billions. If viewers pay only £1 to watch, the revenue from one match could be more than the combined annual income of the top six clubs in the world (taking 2005/6 season figures). Clubs could afford to even let us in for free!

Radical as this idea might sound, the key issue is how this revenue would be distributed amongst the clubs and the England national team. However, given the current corporate ownership taking over the Premiership, this is extremely unlikely to happen. It may be that certain key steps have to be taken first such as clubs being owned by supporters' trusts (a cause we wholeheartedly believe in). It's about time this debate happened.

RTG Weekends' Events

• Henk Ten Cate, the current Ajax manager, seems to be the new flavour of Abramovich's month. Talks are in progress for him taking on a role at Chelsea - views vary as to what role that will be - though it would appear to be initially under the new manager, Avram Grant. Is this some new insight into the structure of football management that Abramovich (or god forbid for Chelsea's sake, Peter Kenyon) have adopted for the future? It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Watch this space.
• MaClaren Drops Alonso for Next Season, ran the sports news ticker... . Quite right, actually, not only is he bad for the English cause, RTG don't think he was eligible to play for England anyway! Oh, oh I see... China formula 1. Now we get it....
• Steve Bruce: looks like now that Birmingham's takeover is finally going to happen, he will be replaced by a more "fashionable" manager, despite his very good record at Birmingham. We're told it's because his face doesn't fit. With the, non paid for re-arrangements of his face, it wouldn't, would it?

Hats Off, Take a Bow (or not)

Player of the week: Afonso Alves of Dutch First division club, Heerenveen who scored 7 of his side's 9 goals in thrashing of Heracles Almelo this weekend. This included 4 in 10 minutes! Not English league, we know, but it is a Dutch record and extremely worthy.

Villain of the Week: Dida. Cheat. Simple as that. Plus, we still can't work out who the hell voted to make him the World's no. 1 goalkeeper. Over-rated.

Cliche of the week: Shevchenko and anything to do with him and the various Chelsea staff he seems to get on with/pissed off with. If he would just play like he used to do, none of this bullshit would be coming his way.

Shock of the Week: Underhyped England team doing very well! Ok, it was Rugby, but at least it didn't go to penalties!