[Archived] Is Football Imploding?

[arbitro]

With the news today that five former FA Chairmen have criticised the FA and the reported cost to Sky of £11m for each live PL game (and the recent cost cutting redundancies Sky announced) I am starting to think that football could well implode over the next few years. Over recent weeks I have noticed quite a few empty seats at a lot of PL grounds which over recent times were full. I think that a lot of football supporters have become fed up of the product and the disproportionate wages paid to over hyped players. I speak to lots of people who are coming to the end of their tether and it really wouldn't take much more for them to walk away.

I was staggered to read in the article below that the FA actually pay millions to the PL, Surely that should be the other way round.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38274152

[Jock]

Because there is big money to be made syphoned off they'll have to drag them out kicking and screaming.

[AllRoverAsia]

With the news today that five former FA Chairmen have criticised the FA and the reported cost to Sky of £11m for each live PL game (and the recent cost cutting redundancies Sky announced) I am starting to think that football could well implode over the next few years. Over recent weeks I have noticed quite a few empty seats at a lot of PL grounds which over recent times were full. I think that a lot of football supporters have become fed up of the product and the disproportionate wages paid to over hyped players. I speak to lots of people who are coming to the end of their tether and it really wouldn't take much more for them to walk away.

I was staggered to read in the article below that the FA actually pay millions to the PL, Surely that should be the other way round.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38274152

I have just downloaded the BBC audio file. It will be interesting to listen to it. There will have to be direct Government action to change that FA's culture and its 'old boys brigade' 20% of whom are 80 years old or more with an average age of plus 60.

[perthblue02]

I have just downloaded the BBC audio file. It will be interesting to listen to it. There will have to be direct Government action to change that FA's culture and its 'old boys brigade' 20% of whom are 80 years old or more with an average age of plus 60.

Imagine the extra cost to the meals on wheels services when the free lunches from the FA stop.

Wonder if any upstanding FA members from Lancashire will be threatening the Government with court action if questioned on anything

[Boz]

Measures that the government must insist applies to all Premier league & football league clubs.

External regulation by the FCA, Financial Conduct Authority, exactly the same regulations as apply to the financial sector. Included in which is that all agents must also be regulated as regulated individuals.

All transfers must go through an external body, be that a department in the FA, or the PFA or wherever, not unlike the same which applies on the conveyance of land or property. In this way the contact and monies follow between both clubs and the player, the contracts are transparent for the regulator, if the players are then happy to pay their agents for their services then so be it.

The FA are not fit for purpose and the government must impose regulations on them as they have proven that they are incapable themselves of doing so.

There we go, sorted in ten minutes.

[Lancaster Rover]

The premier league will threaten to go off on its own and the FA/Government will perform a massive climb down. The government aren't going to spoil one of the countries best exports. So much of England's global exposure is down to football, the government are posturing, the PL have them all over a barrel and they know it.

[AllRoverAsia]

Measures that the government must insist applies to all Premier league & football league clubs.

External regulation by the FCA, Financial Conduct Authority, exactly the same regulations as apply to the financial sector. Included in which is that all agents must also be regulated as regulated individuals.

All transfers must go through an external body, be that a department in the FA, or the PFA or wherever, not unlike the same which applies on the conveyance of land or property. In this way the contact and monies follow between both clubs and the player, the contracts are transparent for the regulator, if the players are then happy to pay their agents for their services then so be it.

The FA are not fit for purpose and the government must impose regulations on them as they have proven that they are incapable themselves of doing so.

There we go, sorted in ten minutes.

Damm good ideas there!

In an age of ever increasing American driven invasion into the individuals personal financial affairs it is amazing how a whole industry awash with cash such as Football govern themselves. Mind you with FIFA running the overall show maybe not so amazing.

[den]

The charge against the FA, is that its made up of elderly white men. The charge is that it isn't representative - and that they, (the elderly white men), are only only interested in maintaining the status quo.

It isn't only the FA that thinks that way. The PL have all the power and they don't want change. I don't think the majority of CEO's really want change and my recent conversations with the EFL and Rovers tells me they're all going through the motions. They're all on fantastic money and as long as that continues, the hunger for change just won't be there.

[jim mk2]

The incompetence at the FA is one of the reasons England have failed at international level for the past 50 years. The FA is facing its biggest test however with the developing child abuse scandal and the signs are they haven't a clue how to deal with it. As an organisation it's not been fit for purpose for a long time. Dyke recognised this when he was in charge but conceded defeat to the "blazers".

[bellamy11]

Interesting topic, and one I've discussed with mates quite a bit. Football seems to be one of those things that people think is TBTF. Nobody really worries that much about bankruptcy because history shows in most cases "somebody will come along".

I get the feeling an implosion is on its way. There are probably better examples, but Arsene Wenger has always felt to me like someone who has seen this coming a long way off and is gearing up for it. Arsenal are consistently asked why they don't just splash out mega money for the striker they've always said to be lacking (and like I say there will be better examples cos in recent years Ozil and Alexis have been big big signings) and I wonder if he's anticipating the big crash and insulating Arsenal against it. If the bottom falls out, I'd imagine the way they're set up puts them in pole position to dominate.

If SKY collapses - which is far from impossible - what happens to the entire ecosystem of professional football? Not just in this country, but everywhere.

[Lancaster Rover]

Greg Dyke who encouraged the formation of the PL and a breakaway from the FA during his time as an ITV exec. I find it hard to believe a word that comes out of such a self-serving worm. The same Greg Dyke who was ushered out of the BBC as a result of the Hutton enquiry has the audacity to give advice about the FA and act as the wrong'ed party, pull the other one. He'd sell his own mother and then blame the buyer.

[Glosrover]

With the news today that five former FA Chairmen have criticised the FA and the reported cost to Sky of £11m for each live PL game (and the recent cost cutting redundancies Sky announced) I am starting to think that football could well implode over the next few years. Over recent weeks I have noticed quite a few empty seats at a lot of PL grounds which over recent times were full. I think that a lot of football supporters have become fed up of the product and the disproportionate wages paid to over hyped players. I speak to lots of people who are coming to the end of their tether and it really wouldn't take much more for them to walk away.

I was staggered to read in the article below that the FA actually pay millions to the PL, Surely that should be the other way round.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38274152

surely the only surprise is that anyone is surprised....................

Greg Dyke saw it straight away and tried to form a plan to change it - oddly enough voted down by the folk who stood to lose by the reforms.

The whole organisation is not fit for purpose, managed like a Edwardian gentleman's club, all they want is to keep the blazer, get a lifetime seat on the board [plus expenses] and hide under a stone when things get messy

[arbitro]

The incompetence at the FA is one of the reasons England have failed at international level for the past 50 years. The FA is facing its biggest test however with the developing child abuse scandal and the signs are they haven't a clue how to deal with it. As an organisation it's not been fit for purpose for a long time. Dyke recognised this when he was in charge but conceded defeat to the "blazers".

And the real irony of your first sentence is that the full international team has had more money thrown at it than any other aspect of football under the jurisdiction of the FA. The rebuild of Wembley (which was massively over budget) and the money spent lon St Georges Park are other examples of gross mismanagement and poor business decisions.

[Lancaster Rover]

Hey, Nike really like the facilities that their academy enjoys at St. Georges Park...........

[Gav]

It goes way back as Jim says, the reason why Clough never got the England job etc etc.

When an organisation are paying off managers who should be sacked for gross misconduct, you know you've got deep rooted issues.

As a country we take the moral high ground against the likes of FIFA, yet our game is as corrupt as they come, full of fat cat agents and managers all operating under the nose of the cartel that is The FA.

Just another nail in the coffin of working mans game, cricket anyone?

[Lancaster Rover]

I'd refer anyone questioning Dyke's duality to David Conn's piece in the Guardian.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Paedophile Coaches and abused youth players.

Corrupt managers stashing cash in offshore accounts.

The disgrace of our National Manager sacked in a money sting.

Average,journeyman Players being payed a Kings ransom when their hearts are not in the game.

Enough to turn you off Football for life.

[Stuart]

Enough to turn you off Football for life.

It really really is.

[yoda]

They should be renamed Sweet FA

[Gav]

I see Dean Windass has been declared bankrupt owning £150k to the taxman after he invested in a scheme designed to avoid paying tax.

The whole sport is rotten, glad a few are getting slapped down by the authorities at last.

[Baz]

Sky know that if they lose the PL rights they are doomed, they are terrified of BT's move into the arena.

I don't think any club has a back up plan, the sky revenue is so vast that they don't have enough resources to be able to be competitive and have a reserve.

As for the FA, what actual benefit do they bring to the game, to my mind doing its minimal at best, and even having a more balanced mix will make little difference unless they can take up more of a regulatory position.

Some good ideas from Boz above, I think the openness of publishing transfer fees, agent fees and any other beneficiaries for transfers, and a list of players, agents and senior staff salaries, should also be published at the close of the August transfer window.

[Husky]

The last sports game I went to was a Rugby Union International and before that some summer T20 cricket.

I must admit I've gone off watching football a lot in recent years. The fact that Rovers are an absolute joke hasn't helped - though before that the influx of too many foreigners (who'd have though Real Madrid would have had more English players than some 'English' teams in that boring Euro Comp?), too much money and lack of passion from the National team.

Then there's ignorant corrupt coffin dodgers, bungs and a paedo 'cover up'. Not to mention more diving and play acting than ever before - is that really a sport?