So far, the premier league era has brought us:
Worst Everton in the history of Everton.
Worst refereeing in the history of refereeing.
Worst competition in the history of football competitions.
This is not so much a reaction to the abysmal state of Everton FC right now. Although having lived through more than six decades of supporting this team, recent events have driven me to write this rant of a thread about the current state of football things overall.
If you support any of the top six money clubs, then you may think this is the greatest of times, but the fact is, your success is built on the foundation of all those below you.
The Premier League is no more than a pyramid scheme (maybe it should be renamed the Pyramid League), whereby those at the bottom feed those at the top, leaving little left to feed the feeders. Such is the transfer market, where the poorer feeder clubs exist only to support the rich hoarder clubs. This inevitably condenses into not one football premier league, but a divisive league of two, the rich elite versus the "also rans". Meanwhile, we have over paid TV punters who like to proclaim, "the PL is the most competitive and entertaining football league in the world". Maybe it was once, for a season or two, but not any longer. The vast injection of cash from the live, worldwide television coverage has put a stop to that.
It is not even a sporting event. It has transformed from a local, real life experience, stadium of people event, into a worldwide, anonymous crowd of unseen observers event. It is nothing more than another television show, a show used primarily to sell us things we do not really need to buy. Meanwhile, the tribal rivalry element is manipulated to create a sort of tabloid sensationalism to drive up viewer numbers for the often titled "Big Game" or "Game of the season". Such games rarely live up to the hype.
But, that does not matter. The game is secondary to advertising banners. Clubs rely more and more these days on getting sponsorship deals than on player deals, (unless said player can bring in more attention to sponsors). Clubs seek revenue more so than trophies, although the two do walk hand in hand. The richest clubs in the world are valued in the the billions. they are no longer clubs, but brands. Players are no longer team members, they are "assets", to be traded much like shares on the stock exchange. According to fifa, the international transfer deals of 2023 hit a record $9.63 Billion. The top players themselves are millionaires. Seems there is an awful lot of money to be made from the simple game of footy. But is it still a game of football?
It is all about money. Of course, it always was to a certain extent, as any club will always need funds to exist. The problem is, money has now become the dominant factor in all things football. Clubs no longer play the game of football to win trophies, they compete financially, like mega corporations intent on the further enrichment of their billionaire owners and investors. It is much like the board game Monoloply, where the object is to dominate the board and drive all others into bankruptcy. It is a game that Everton have not played well. Through bad investments, poor recruitment choices and overall business mismanagement, we have fallen down the pyramid and been left to scratch out an existence amongst the other "also rans". We blew our chance of eating at the big buffet. The cost of getting even close to tasting any of that gourmet fair again will need serious capital. The sort of money that only an oligarchy or rich oil state could afford. A cost that is far out of reach of the majority of clubs.
As we all know, where there is money, there is corruption. The more the money, the more the corruption. Right? Those clubs that play on the periphery of the big money clubs can only look upon these self proclaimed elite as existing on some kind of exotic paradise island, cut off from the rest of the "ordinary" league. The Premier League has become a sort of banana republic. An organization that appears to aim solely to sustain the status quo. For it appears, from the outside looking in, to be "owned" by those at the top of the pyramid. There is a bias observed in every game. We all see it, sometimes subtle, sometimes blatant. Despite the momentary blip that was Leicester, the pyramid remains intact, unthreatened and reinforced by rules designed to maintain the present structure. Once the rules for "fair play" and financial responsibility were imposed, the goal posts where quickly shifted, so as to close the gate to "paradise island" and keep all those "smaller clubs" on the outside in check. God forbid any who presume to challenge this.
Of course, this wall of words is just the opinion of an old fan of a team he has supported and followed since childhood. I have seen the good the bad and the ugly. I have seen the holy trinity of the school of science, kissed the league cup, travelled to Wembley to see victory and defeat. I have sat in a two thirds empty Goodison, on a freezing cold November night, enduring the mediocrity of a Mike Walker team. And yet nothing, absolutely nothing could compare to the slow drowning of not just our beloved team, but also the game we have all grown up with.
I have no answer as to what is next for the game. I cannot even say I am a true fan anymore, as I no longer have my season ticket, or even live close to the ground. My opinion, therefore is coming from afar these days. My career in the mid 90's took me to the States and so I have become one of those ultra-wool expat, anonymous observers of the game on the box or streaming. Nevertheless, Everton still matter to me, football (they call it soccer here), still matters to me. The question is, does it matter to those in charge, or has it just become a temporary cash cow, that will evaporate once another outlet for the billionaires is found?
Maybe it does not matter what happens with the professional game. Kids will still enjoy kicking a bladder of air around and people will still enjoy the competition of that. I do not know the future. All I know and feel now is that this is the worst of times for the game.
What do you all think?
