European Super League (again)

[Lord Camomile]

Watch streams instead and motd without a license!

Still, possibly misguidedly, believe in the licence (but let's leave that for other threads! ) and streams seem to have evolved since I last used them regularly to the point where I no longer understand them. It seems like everything is an ad and there's simply no way to close them

I don't pay for any Sports TV subscription services - and never have - I only sometimes watch Match Of The Day or live football on BBC/ITV - and I usually just watch the 3-minute highlights on YouTube for the 'big' clubs.

That said, I'm sure they're still able to squeak some revenue out of me, but it's going to be absolutely miniscule and positively microscopic compared to what I'm putting into non league football (both financially and in time and effort).

Yeah, it's certainly contributing way less than any of the alternatives. Seems like it's still contributing enough, though (Again, for the avoidance of doubt, I'm basically on a par here)

Anyway, I guess we'll see just how this all plays out. I do just worry it'll be another one of those things that people come to accept as normal pretty quickly. I presume there's an actual word for that phenomenon, but if there is I don't know it.

 

[Lord Camomile]

I disagree. I'd say they really understand what top flight football has become and they know exactly how to maximise their financial assets.

Aye, they understand football the business, and don't care about football the sport.

Although, when you see some decisions, you do wonder about the former too

 

[BCBlues]

Similar tale here to Zapp Brannigan but replace Spurs with Chelsea. All my best memories are 70s and 80s despite the fact we only started winning stuff again in the 90s.

I dont give Chelsea any money these days, refuse to buy from the online store and ticket prices are ridiculous, but I still support them, that wont change but this barmy league they're on about will distance the club even further from it's original fan base.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Do you not follow any non league teams? I never thought I'd stop supporting Cardiff City, but I just felt I was getting fleeced by the club most of the time and being told to sit down at a FA cup final was a watershed moment for me. That's when I really knew that the fans were coming a long-distant second to money making making and the game's commercial 'image.'

I've long thought about it. While I'd love to, it's a time commitment as much as anything - the kids have zero interest in football so I don't think Saturday afternoons on the terrace will ever be our thing together.

Plus I live in a small town of less than 12k people which somehow feels it can justify having 2 local clubs (Town vs Athletic). The rivalry is FIERCE. How can I pick my allegiance?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Plus I live in a small town of less than 12k people which somehow feels it can justify having 2 local clubs (Town vs Athletic). The rivalry is FIERCE. How can I pick my allegiance?

Pick the one currently doing worse, then things can only get better

You can borrow the boy if he ever shows an interest in the game

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Pick the one currently doing worse, then things can only get better

You can borrow the boy if he ever shows an interest in the game

I can also borrow the girl if she does

#EverydaySexism

 

[MrSki]

The Arsenal are still my team but I doubt I will ever go to the Ashburton Grove again. When I was a nipper you used to see the players getting pissed in the pub afters. How it has changed.

 

[two sheds]

Loved football when I was a kid, spent most of my free time playing. Am now enjoying rugby as much as watching football though, all that's going a similar way with more not being on free-to-air any more.

 

[Pickman's model]

The Arsenal are still my team but I doubt I will ever go to the Ashburton Grove again. When I was a nipper you used to see the players getting pissed in the pub afters. How it has changed.

last league match i saw there was years back, a 3-0 win over liverpool. but been a couple of times since for the emirates cup. like you i doubt i'll go again, which is a great shame.

 

[Lord Camomile]

Similar tale here to Zapp Brannigan but replace Spurs with Chelsea. All my best memories are 70s and 80s despite the fact we only started winning stuff again in the 90s.

I dont give Chelsea any money these days, refuse to buy from the online store and ticket prices are ridiculous, but I still support them, that wont change but this barmy league they're on about will distance the club even further from it's original fan base.

Out of interest, and at the risk of further derailing things again, what does that 'support' now look like for you?

It's basically the main reason I stopped 'supporting' Newcastle, although Mike Ashley sure made the split easier I bought a lot of merch as a kid/teen (still have the bedsheets in my cupboard right now ), but I realised I didn't 'support' the club in any way I think justified the term. I didn't go to matches, I wasn't connected to the community; I couldn't really point to anything I did or contributed beyond caring about the score and calling them 'my' team.

Maybe I overcooked it in the other direction, and watching them on TV is fine.

 

[two sheds]

One of the early signs that it was all going to shit was when they started regularly changing the club strip so that young kids would have to pester their parents for more money to keep up with the latest version. That was just cynical

 

[editor]

I've long thought about it. While I'd love to, it's a time commitment as much as anything - the kids have zero interest in football so I don't think Saturday afternoons on the terrace will ever be our thing together.

Plus I live in a small town of less than 12k people which somehow feels it can justify having 2 local clubs (Town vs Athletic). The rivalry is FIERCE. How can I pick my allegiance?

Kids usually enjoy non league a lot more because they're not stuck in a seat next to bellowing nutcases - at most grounds I go to, kids are usually happy kicking a ball around on the side of the pitch or playing together in all the space that's around.

What town are you in? Maybe I could help your decision!

 

[Pickman's model]

I've long thought about it. While I'd love to, it's a time commitment as much as anything - the kids have zero interest in football so I don't think Saturday afternoons on the terrace will ever be our thing together.

Plus I live in a small town of less than 12k people which somehow feels it can justify having 2 local clubs (Town vs Athletic). The rivalry is FIERCE. How can I pick my allegiance?

pick the team that doesn't play in blue

 

[Johnny Doe]

As secretary of a local grassroots football club, I spend a lot of time each week on the the administration needed for 5 all ages team and 3 veterans teams competing in properly competitive sport. At 46, I'm still playing very Saturday and I fucking love it. These wankers are nothing to do with sport. They don't want the competition I thrive on. They are as much to do with football as any global corporation, Apple or Amazon or whoever. Elite level football is done. The effect on the rest of football will no doubt be seen in years to come. Wankers.

 

[MrSki]

Kids usually enjoy non league a lot more because they're not stuck in a seat next to bellowing nutcases - at most grounds I go to, kids are usually happy kicking a ball around on the side of the pitch or playing together in all the space that's around.

What town are you in? Maybe I could help your decision!

Surely the Neoliberals should have a say.

 

[editor]

Surely the Neoliberals should have a say.

Literally got no idea what you're on about.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Out of interest, and at the risk of further derailing things again, what does that 'support' now look like for you?

It's basically the main reason I stopped 'supporting' Newcastle, although Mike Ashley sure made the split easier I bought a lot of merch as a kid/teen (still have the bedsheets in my cupboard right now ), but I realised I didn't 'support' the club in any way I think justified the term. I didn't go to matches, I wasn't connected to the community; I couldn't really point to anything I did or contributed beyond caring about the score and calling them 'my' team.

Maybe I overcooked it in the other direction, and watching them on TV is fine.

Support means feeling a genuine connection in whatever way, it's a personal thing. I almost had a heart attack when Lucas Moura banged in his 96th minute winner vs Ajax, I got appropriately mad at the telly when Dier was ridiculously penalised for a 94th minute "handball" vs Newcastle. I don't have to make a conscious decision to care about Spurs, it just happens - hence I consider myself a supporter.

 

[Pickman's model]

Support means feeling a genuine connection in whatever way, it's a personal thing. I almost had a heart attack when Lucas Moura banged in his 96th minute winner vs Ajax, I got appropriately mad at the telly when Dier was ridiculously penalised for a 94th minute "handball" vs Newcastle. I don't have to make a conscious decision to care about Spurs, it just happens - hence I consider myself a supporter.

or a sufferer

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Kids usually enjoy non league a lot more because they're not stuck in a seat next to bellowing nutcases - at most grounds I go to, kids are usually happy kicking a ball around on the side of the pitch or playing together in all the space that's around.

What town are you in? Maybe I could help your decision!

Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Although a caveat to that, by the end of the year likely I'll be in Rugby. The 3 miles might make all the difference!

 

[MrSki]

Literally got no idea what you're on about.

Nor have I but it was not me that brought Neoliberals into a thread about football & was just taking the piss.

 

[Voley]

or a sufferer

 

[two sheds]

I do wonder whether players should be punished by not being allowed into their international teams/World Cup as has been threatened. How much choice do they have if the club makes the decision? Can they demand a transfer? (Otherwise they'll just have to console themselves with the £100,000 a week or however much they get).

 

[Lord Camomile]

Support means feeling a genuine connection in whatever way, it's a personal thing. I almost had a heart attack when Lucas Moura banged in his 96th minute winner vs Ajax, I got appropriately mad at the telly when Dier was ridiculously penalised for a 94th minute "handball" vs Newcastle. I don't have to make a conscious decision to care about Spurs, it just happens - hence I consider myself a supporter.

Aye, fair enough. The feelings certainly linger.

Ironically, Spurs were my mum's team and so the other option for me when I was deciding who to support, and I do sometimes wonder if things would be different if I'd supported them instead as I did grow up in North London. Indeed, I've seen more live games joining my mum at the Lane (and Wembley) than I ever did at St. James'.

But... it was Keegan's Entertainers! What was a poor 10-year old supposed to do

 

[Voley]

In the interests of balance, there's a convincing counter-argument here:

Reasons why a European Super League would be great for football

We list all the reasons why shock proposals for a European Super League, revealed today, would be great for the game.

www.newsandstar.co.uk

 

[Wilf]

Kids usually enjoy non league a lot more because they're not stuck in a seat next to bellowing nutcases - at most grounds I go to, kids are usually happy kicking a ball around on the side of the pitch or playing together in all the space that's around.

What town are you in? Maybe I could help your decision!

I'd like to stop being a Man United fan, but it's not quite a conscious decision you can make if you've been doing it for years. I came very close to binning them off when the Glazers took over and have always hated them as an organisation. But somehow I've kept on supporting the team, though I've only been to 2 or 3 games after the Glazer takeover. Gah... one side of my brain is saying bin them off while the other still has emotional baggage!

 

[two sheds]

I'd like to stop being a Man United fan, but it's not quite a conscious decision you can make if you've been doing it for years. I came very close to binning them off when the Glazers took over and have always hated them as an organisation. But somehow I've kept on supporting the team, though I've only been to 2 or 3 games after the Glazer takeover. Gah... one side of my brain is saying bin them off while the other still has emotional baggage!

You could practice with a Daily Two Minute Hate.

 

[Wilf]

You could practice with a Daily Two Minute Hate.

Perhaps prince andrew could take over as club president. That would do the trick.

 

[sleaterkinney]

Non football fan asks...

Between this, and the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, are any fans really going to turn their backs on the cesspit that is quite clearly “top flight” football? Or will decades of club/country/game loyalty win through in the end?

I think they have timed it with the pandemic as otherwise there would have been empty stadiums, protests etc. Most club fans will be massively against this.

The World Cup/national team is a different thing and attracts a lot of fans who wouldn’t normally go to football regularly, so the Qatar thing will have no effect.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I can also borrow the girl if she does

#EverydaySexism

If you know a team that plays in a rainbow coloured kit with unicorn detailing you might have some luck. Otherwise she’s on team bike racing now

 

[JimW]

Yeah, as you say he's a millionaire but it's hard not to like him. His instincts are usually spot on and his rants are great. ...

Though rather than investing in Bury, his dad's lifetime club, who have since gone to the wall they made a complete vanity project out of Salford. So fuck him too and the Classless of 92.