The head of light entertainment
The head of light entertainment
You've Only Got Yourselves To Blame! I refer to, and target in this article, those armchair supporters of Manchester United, who have enjoyed excellent value offered by a subscription to BSkyB, and are now whinging because of an outlandish take-over by Rupert Murdoch’s empire.
We'll look a little closer at exactly how this will affect the poor, forgotten Man U fans, but in the meantime let's just consider the possibility that Murdoch will introduce a dedicated Sky Channel for the legions of world-wide fans.
Let's face it, it had to come. Availability of match tickets at all Premiership grounds has become scarcer, the turnstile money that apparently funds these continental players comes mainly from the corporate sector, where hospitality is big business, and where the UK sales and marketing executives finally have a desirable sporting attraction on their doorstep with prospective buyers queuing up to enjoy lunch/dinner and 90 minutes footy. So Sky has mopped up.
And whilst I have been a staunch objector to satellite TV (and the exclusivity that goes with it) I would concede that £30-ish per month is bloody good. If a father (& two kids) wanted to attend a Premiership game, that will cost him (if he could get tickets at all) in excess of £40 plus travel and refreshments. And programmes. And merchandise/souvenirs.
With Sky, he's going to watch many more games, and not be faced with the peripheral expenses that go with a visit to the ground. Sold to the family man on a budget. Who has the biggest following? Sadly, and mysteriously, Manchester United.
In many cases, United fans are what they are, because their fathers were United fans. And their grand fathers, and so on. I would remind you that the Ku Klux Klan developed in the same way. It’s a generation thing. Younger support ers have fallen into the trap of jumping on the 'winning everything at the time and no-one can stop us' bandwagon.
I still fail to understand when I look around a football club bar, such as Forest, after a match, and when the United result (or Liverpool for that matter) comes up positive there are whimpers of delight from around the room.
Why don’t you support a club closer to home? I’ll tell you why. Because for the past twenty years, even before the insurgence of Sky, you have followed football on TV, not at the ground. You do not have a feel for a club just a knowledge of it. Your head is telling you it would be convenient and street-wise to support a team doing well, and your heart has switched off.
Sky TV did not isolate the Premiership and top matches for the viewer. BBC and ITV had already stopped showing a game from Division 2 as it was, even to the point that important promotion issues received no coverage at all, until Sky picked up on the relatively new 'play-off' games at Wembley.
We have been careering towards an elite league for many years, where cash balances, stock options and flotation are prominent features of, what used to be known as football clubs, and are now called PLC. At this point I would like to say that I have absolutely no love for Manchester United or its fans.
Any come-uppance is long overdue, and it can’t come soon enough for this reporter. However, we are talking about the good of the game, and must talk in broader terms to include other clubs who have chosen, for many of the same reasons to 'go public'.
The fans were clamouring for success on the pitch. As we have discovered at Forest, if you can sort it out off the pitch first, that success will be easier to build.
By floating on the Stock Exchange, vast sums of money were made available to improve the ground, to accommodate more fans, and to purchase and pay big name players. That's what you fans want. We all want our team to do well, so it’s understandable. But now you’ve gone public, anyone can own your club. Perhaps all the supporters who are now bleating should have got together then and bought the requisite shares to prevent such a take-over, then they could really have had a say in how the club would continue to exist.
Other teams who must have been watching recent events with more than a little concern would include Newcastle and Spurs. Both teams yet to set this year's competition alight, but clubs who will always pack their stadia. If this trend of buying clubs carries on, then without knowing it, we would have laid the foundations for the UK Superleague that the FA have always said will never happen.
They conceded several years ago to reduce the size of our front division - from 22 to 20. At the time Man U, Spurs, Liverpool etc. all said we should follow the Italian lead and aim for an even smaller division. (The joke is that the motive behind all that was to improve our international team - ha! By making a smaller league populated by Johnny Foreigner aplenty!)
So the Sky Superleague is on its way. It possibly won’t stretch across the continent yet, but we must expect the big guns of Scotland to join. Maybe even the hand guns of Welsh football, and the pop guns of Ireland.
It's Kerry Packer all over again. Where is he anyway? Maybe he's involved at the highest level, maybe he's hot Kennedy etc. etc. In the meantime, and you all have the advantage of seeing the week unfold after I have written this, how will life change for a Manchester United fan?
Well, about 98% will continue to support their team by watching satellite TV, as they always have. The others, the lucky few, will pay through their noses to sit inside the ground and will maintain the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by Jordi Cruyff, and other highly-paid, non-playing members of the squad. How do you feel? Robbed? Good. This is just the start of it.
I wonder if Man. City fans might have looked back in anger if Oasis had purchased Maine Road lock, stock and barrel? The talk is of having a dedicated Manchester United satellite channel, which opens up endless programming possibilities, as I hope that broadcasters do not limit their content to re-runs of matches, goals etc.
There is scope for all kinds of entertainment, job opportunities for stars past and present to involve themselves in this, the next phase of the Manchester United World Domination By Marketing & Sub-Conscious Influence.
Ultimately we will be preached to, invited to join 'the masses' and follow United. We will be asked to pledge money, there will be new identities such as 'The Surrey Chapter of United Fans' who will employ their own Reverend Red Devil to raise cash, on air, bless your heart. Football evangelists will reign supreme in the media phenomenon created by you, the Manchester United supporter.