Football, strictly business

Stereotypes do not just exist within everyday society; they also exist within the beautiful game. This issue involves issues way beyond the idea of kicking a football but also takes into account the issue of national identity and even business acumen.

Many of the top nations in Europe have had their respective glory years, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and now its England’s turn. Despite this there seems to be an air of arrogance about the majority of football followers in England, that they now possess the ‘best league in the world’. I am now going to put this argument to bed by portraying it in a way no other pundit has.

The ‘best league in the world’ is a pointless debate. Why?

Whether your opinion is that, the English Premiership is the best league in the world, does this mean that the Lithuanian national league will not be played? Of course not. This is where the sense of arrogance comes from, admirers of the English Premiership believe that everyone should be tuning in to ‘their’ league.

There is no doubt that certain aspects of the English Premiership cannot be matched by any other league in the world, but does that mean there is not competitiveness in other footballing countries. The so called professional punditry broadcast on British television are the ones that are constantly talking about this concept, do any other nations do this?

One instance of this recently was the embarrassing debate forced on Ray Parlour and Guillem Balague, and of course, what was the topic, what is the best league in the world? I don’t blame the names mentioned; instead it was the forceful way that the broadcaster put these two people in a position to ‘debate’ a pointless issue in football.

My deepest fear is that the average armchair fan becomes transfixed in these sorts of debates and therefore forgets the important traits of football which made it the sport it is today, competitiveness, team spirit, flair and pure excitement.

The resenting fact in all of this talk is that football has now become purely business. Buzzwords like merchandising, brands, markets and image are all quoted by the hierarchy of owners these days in the English Premiership highlighted by English Premiership clubs pre season campaigns. You only have to look at last years Asia Trophy, with Tottenham, Hull and West Ham promoting their ‘brands’ in one of the prospering markets for football, Asia. The other participating team in this competition was Beijing Guoan, which confirms that these clubs weren’t flying thousands of miles to play a world class team but too spread the name of their respective football clubs.

I don’t blame clubs for moving with the times, as that’s what all good businesses should strive to achieve, but there is a part of me, and surely some other football fans out there, that would like to rewind twenty years and enjoy the reality of football again.

I feel that in the next ten years we won’t be debating which league is the best in the world, but which league has the best business plan.