Louis Spence's Premier League Preview || Half A Million Hopefuls

HALF A MILLION HOPEFULS 29-4-08
Louis Spence

Apart from the big boys of the Premiership, the aggregated ticket sales for the remaining clubs is just short of half a million.

Genuine passionate souls are still buying religiously to support their clubs. So what do they get in return?

It used to be that they were relishing a chance for a run at the League title, or, in the case of smaller outfits, the prospect of retaining their much prized Division One place.

Alas now they are purchasing mediocrity. The latter will be scrapping from day one to stay afloat and the wannabes know there is no room at the top.

Ask a Derby diehard how much value they have had for their hard earned cash this season. Sisyphus the boulder pusher got an easier gig.

The Champions League places are permanently pre-booked although the seating arrangements may vary.

The Cup Final is also the preserve of the giants if they so choose. Does anyone really believe that Portsmouth would be meeting Cardiff if the leviathans had bothered to show real interest?

Still further down the pecking order comes the League Cup. Now just a fraction of the half million could conceivably get a ludicrously expensive day out at Wembley for this now devalued trophy.

So in effect these hardy fans from 80% of the teams involved are shelling out up to £700 per year to get the two available places in this minor showdown. Or a secondary European qualification. That ain't good value, my friend.

Like some drunken sailor they are being 'rolled' year in year out.

You are now being taken for a patsy. Fully paid up member. Your money is in so you no longer have a say. You relinquished control the moment your cheque was cashed. I was a season ticket holder for years until I saw the futility of it. The beautiful game has been hijacked.

Any way you want to justify it, your reckoning comes up wanting. Or if it doesn't, your IQ does.

If it's a case of blind faith you have my sympathy - I have walked that road. Undying love? Not when your mistress keeps on betraying you.

Nobody in their right mind pays £35 for a meal knowing they will be served inferior food and then be treated with disdain. Once would be ridiculous but to sign up for nineteen such meals would be considered sheer lunacy. Because it is.

You are paying for a magical mystery tour and ending up in a third world dictatorship. Oh and by the way, you had better show your appreciation or we'll have our thought police after you. Ungrateful wretches.

The undeniable and unpalatable fact is that the only show in town is the Premiership top four - the gateway to the Champions League. In an ideal world, there would be strong competition for this hallowed ground but this is just another Simon Cowell production.

The best the rest can hope for is European qualification in the UEFA Cup. This is such small fry when compared to Big Brother it is laughable. The disdain that 'non-involved' parties show this competition says it all. Remind me again who is left in. I'm waiting.

Year after year at this time, the call goes out from the clubs for the ever more disillusioned supporters to dig deep again after, in many cases, shocking performances from disinterested mercenaries. This, my friend, is football today.

The old boys network which comprises ex-players, managers and multifarious backroom staff, along with the radio and TV pundits, will of course be talking the game up again - conning the poor to pay the rich. Well someone has to foot their inflated salaries.

How many times do you hear these jokers have a go about fan apathy as they point out the empty seats from their own 'paid for' perches? What can a football 'expert' come out with that you don't already know? Money for old rope and then some. Fooling nobody.

Do I still love football? With a passion, my friend. Am I sick of the Premiership cartel and the jesters in charge of the game? Ever more so.

It could be changed for the better for the paying spectator but who cares about him? A necessary nonentity. The execrable Freddie Shepherd and Duncan Hall said it all.

If you don't agree with this then tell me who will be next year's top four. Excuse me while I stifle a yawn. Dear, oh dear.

The game has been sold out and I for one am no longer paying.

Louis Spence.

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