By Hugh Southon
Associate editor Sean Whetstone has given his view on the issue of Premier League games being played abroad in another article on the site.
I count Sean as a close friend and value his input to this site enormously but I can’t agree with his conclusion that this would be a good thing – in fact I reckon the opposite!
It’s impossible to argue that PL football is not now a brand with enormous world wide appeal and that as this is probably the first time the Brits have held such control. Not unnaturally from their point of view they want to exercise it and maximise it.
However, I loathe the game of football being described as a “brand” seeing it still as a sport which I grew up loving from my earliest days.
Once upon a time when the West Ham academy was at it’s finest and most productive the game was about community – now it’s about commerce.
For me, taking Premier Leagues abroad is several steps too far and I do not and never will believe that the profits will trickle down to the fans at the grass roots.
That has been used as a political philosophy back inn the 80s – it never happened as the rise and rise of the yuppie culture gave birth to the expression “Greed is Good.”
The new TV deal is reported to be likely to exceed £4 billion when the new bidding rights open. When is enough enough? Never it seems.
Yet as the figure rises and rises what benefits have the fans seen? None that are obvious to me yet we are told that playing the odd game abroad will somehow help the fans. I think not.
My view is that we are seeing the prelude to the European Super League which when fully in place will see us watching matches of this sort of quality:
Mechelin v Cercle Bruges and Verona v Udinese.
The Premier League needs to stay in England FULL STOP
Sorry Sean!