But not anymore.Gone is the traditional 3pm kick off as a sop to the game's sponsors Budweiser---The richer but vastly inferior American version of the original Czech beer Budvar---also gone is the line ending an English season.There are still two games to go in the Premiership.I presume they will still sing "Abide with me" before the game but that's the FA just paying lip service to traditions they claim to respect so much.Until the rich and uncaring sponsors start waving big fat cheques around that is...Expect half time to be extended to half an hour to accommodate some washed up has been with a greatest hits CD to promote, a la Super Bowl, anytime soon...
How has this come to be?
Well it can be traced back to the advent of Sky TV and Premiership football.I'm not blaming Sky.Far from it but i am squarely putting the blame at the feet of the FA who have responded as all whores do.Debasing themselves to ever increasing humiliation in pursuit of ££££. Or in this case $$$$$$.
There does'nt seem to be anything the paymasters suggest that the FA won't agree to for more cold hard cash.A few weeks ago there was one(That's ONE)top flight game kicking off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon owing to Sky commitments and midweek European games---Incidently UEFA and FIFA are even bigger whores than our own FA---They have agreed to noon KO's,evening KO's.Sunday/Monday KO's,Cup replays on every day of the week etc etc all to appease Sky and their armchair fans.What of the actual paying fans who go to games and are--or were--the lifeblood of the game? The prevailing attitude among the FA seems to be Fuck em'. Which is ironic considering what cheap hookers they are...
I am not opposed to change.I don't want to go back to the 70's when going to the game was akin to a tour of duty in Iraq or where grounds were nothing more than open sewers.Going to games is a lot safer now and the grounds immeasurably better.But don't be fooled.These improvements are'nt down to Sky TV.They were mostly down to the consequence of the tragedies at Hysel,Bradford and Sheffield which resulted in Govt legistation telling the FA to improve the game or face the consequences...
I would'nt mind either if this was a two way street,if the FA got some concessions that improved the lot of the fan paying through the nose.But this does'nt seem to be the case.It's more a case of "You do as we say cos' we're paying" However Sky need our football as much as the FA needs their money.How many subscribers would Sky lose if they did'nt have the football on their channel? I would suggest they'd lose most of them and then all their advertising revenue.The FA should remember this and front up to them occasionally instead of bending over pre-lubed...
The same applies to the Sponsor money we get from US giants like Budweiser & Nike.We should'nt be cow-towing to their every whim, like later kick offs to accommodate THEIR tv audience in the States.It's our game and every Sponsor should be playing by our rules,not theirs...If they don't like it they can piss off and help ruin another sport...
Football will always be here--i hope---but Sponsors come and go.One day those US bigwigs will be overtaken by Chinese business and fall by the wayside.Will the FA have the balls to stand up to them when they demand we alter the structure of the game to suit their needs? Don't count on it...
When this happens don't be surprised if all our Premiership games Kick Off at midnight and the FA Cup final is held in February...
Whores are whores no matter how well dressed...
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