The fact that you've been following City since the mid 90's and that you think football finances are quite low on the list to care about are inextricably linked. In 1992 football finances changed forever and with it the whole character of the national game. It gave rise to a few clubs being able to dominate rather than have an interesting, absorbing and entertaining contest. The initial big 6 were whittled down to 4 and they are really now 2+2. I appreciate that whilst your club is winning and playing well you're going to enjoy it but football, with it's obscene finances, corrupt agents and unfit owners is eating itself and your clubs "Let them eat cake" business model is part of the problem.
I much prefer a level playing field and have seen a few great games in a really tight National League this season. The Premier League is just a series of exhibition matches. "Best League in the World"? For what?
I totally understand that tbf, see my earlier posts in the thread.
I was too young to go to games on my own at that time and my family couldn't afford Sky TV so it meant watching live league football was a rare event. I'm under no illusion that City would be in the position they're in now without the men from Abu Dhabi injecting huge amounts of cash but that's a symptom of what football has become rather than a cause imo. In an ideal world clubs would be able to hang on to the top players they develop, I was gutted when City were forced into selling SWP for example to keep the club afloat.
Look at Southampton and all the players they've brought through in recent years but couldn't keep or West Ham circa 2001 (Ferdinand, Lampard, Carrick, Cole et al) , Everton having to sell Rooney etc. The balance of power shifted further and further into a handful of clubs at the top of the tree, even Spurs who have always had money thanks to being in London couldn't keep their best players once the likes of United came knocking.
It's a corporate game now and that brings a lot of distasteful aspects but what can you do as an ordinary fan? You pick your club and you're in it for life, for better or worse. From a purely sporting perspective it's still 11 vs 11 and upsets can still happen on any day of the week (thanks Wigan), we all have to take what we can from watching the spectacle. ~10 years ago an outrageous Stephen Ireland dragback to setup Andy Cole would sustain the average City fan for weeks, now we're lucky enough to see similar skill every game.
One thing I do realistically hope for is that all City fans continue to appreciate what they're seeing now and equally realise nothing lasts for ever and also that we never become so arrogant to the point we have a permanent banner in the ground mocking our rivals for their lack of success!
