It’s the eve of a new English Premier League football season so indulge me whilst I indulge myself.
It’s not easy being a fan these days.
It used to be so much simpler. Support your team at the ground, watch the highlights package on TV, read a review of the game and then argue the toss with your friends at school or the office.
You had to be knowledgeable about players and managers. Tactics hadn’t been invented in England when I was a lad!
But now.
Football is played out in social media and fan forums 24/7. I can have a debate with a Liverpool fan from Brazil at 3:00 a.m. on whether or not my team’s kit sponsorship was a good deal.
I can watch our under 18s play on my laptop whilst reading our annual report. I follow the fortunes of our women’s team.
And I am conversant with the details of the English Premier League’s TV sponsorship deal and how much it will net the 10th placed team; the implications of the Bosman ruling; the merits of a ‘director of football‘; the details of UEFA’s (so-called) financial fair play (FFP) policy and the concept behind a club owning a players’ image rights.
I feel compelled to debate on Twitter the relative value of our new 50 million pound centre back, whilst comparing average club attendance figures with another ‘disbeliever’. I subscribe to Deloitte’s Football Money League.
It takes commitment.
But next week, again, I can watch a game.
CITD
Image by Ronnie Macdonald.
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