Accrington Stanley Programme, 16th February 2008
I am writing this letter after Saturday’s game with Shrewsbury Town and it was good to see a good turnout from you for the game. It is a sign of how far expectation has shifted that we were all disappointed with a draw; still our unbeaten run continues. Speaking to many of you before the game you feel optimistic about what Andy and the team can achieve this season. This is a great turnaround but we must be careful not burden the team with too much expectation.
I, like many supporters, was dismayed to hear the news coming from the Premier League this week concerning their proposal to play a round of special League matches outside England. Much press has been devoted to the practicalities and fairness to both the competition and of course English supporters. The BBC reported over the weekend that not one single supporter had contacted them who was in favour of the idea whilst they had been deluged with objections.
The motivation for this proposal is of course money, not just from the revenue generated from the matches themselves but money gained by building their teams’ respective supporter bases across the globe. This will enable them to raise the value of current television revenues further, which are currently £2.7 billion over 3 years, and also increase merchandising.
Only 3% of the £2.7 billion finds its way to the Football League compared to 50% before the Premier League was set up. The focus for the Premier League is very clearly money and easy to see why journalist Brian Glanville christened the Premier league as the “Greed Is Good League.”
The press have talked about the disregard the Premier League Clubs appear to have for their own supporters for considering this proposal in the first place and the fact it may reflect the increasing foreign ownership in the League. I have not seen any comment however on the impact this move would have on those hosting countries own domestic league competition. This could be catastrophic.
The whole ploy of globalising the Premier League will not be to the benefit of supporters anywhere. FIFA and EUFA must take a stand against this or they will become subservient to the Premier League just like our own FA have become.
Please make your voice heard in this debate so clubs like Brentford do not get squeezed out of football to expand the Premier League‘s global reach.
Let's work together!
Jon Gosling
Comments can either be sent to me on or directly via comments page.
17th February 2008