I’ve been reading some comments on the Stoke forum regards “Sky killing our national game” because of money.
But thinking about it, as a kid we were subjected to three or four live games a year and these included the FA Cup final and one or two “other” important games, with highlights being shown on Match of the Day and The Big Match (one was always on too late for a pre-teen, and the other was always on as Sunday dinner was being served). Then in the 80′, ITV came along and started to show some live games from the then Canon Division 1. This made Sunday afternoons pretty good. Then things changed in the early 90’s, BskyB or whatever they were called, helped football re-invent itself.
The dawn of the Premiership ! To an audience of about 300. Back to where we were when I was a kid, four or five live games a year and MOTD/Big Match, unless you were willing to pay a monthly fee and have an odd shaped dish on the side of your house. The pubs recognised an opportunity to bring in a bit more trade and duly signed up for it. As the 90’s progressed, Sky started to pump more money into it £500m+ then upwards of a £billion.
Eventually in 98/99 I got Sky primarily for me for the footy, for the missus the films and for the kids cartoons. And to this day I still have it. The amount of football has increased (even with EU stipulations to ship some of it to someone else), the quality of the football coverage is superb (and has been a platform for others too follow) and the quality of the football we watch is probably the best in the world. Why? Money. Spnsorship, investors, fans and Sky.
There are complaints (and I have been vocal in this), that the working man cannot access the terraces like he used to because of the spiraling costs – £30+ per ticket, travel £4 for a pie, £3-4 for a programme, £40 for a shirt….etc etc etc. But the grounds are generally full, Man U getting 76,000+ for every home game, the shirts are being sold and worn everywhere.
Another complaint that I have relates to the distribution of the money. From the Championship down the ladder to clubs like Brid, I feel for too long not enough money has filtered down the pyramid for local clubs to improve, grow and increase their community base (for discussion later..).
I’m currently watching the Portsmouth v Bolton game after work and before our match with Chorley. Its been a good game, good goals but spoilt by the standard of refereeing, which has been shocking (the ref will do our next home game then…!! when did challenging for the ball against the goalie suddenly become a crime – pees me off that rule does, and why is it a free kick is ALWAYS given against the attacking team at corners and free kicks for shirt pulling or some other spurious infringement, never the defending team). Good to see at least 10 home grown players on the pitch for a change.
I don’t feel so bad about my £42/month subscription, irrespective of what the wife thinks.
