Money in football makes the game so cheap

Every even year, the football season returns with a tad less excitement than those campaigns that fall on an odd number.

Aside from the interruptions caused by Covid, a major international tournament comes along every two years and the inevitable let down for England fans. Just a few weeks after that disappointment, we are all expected to get excited for a new footy season, even with the cricket summer still at halfway.

We are heading for October and my personal football saturation has seen the telly remote flick past almost all live games so far. Even the Champions League, the apparent pinnacle of the club game, is failing to get the fires burning.

A story for a different day but I didn’t feel that football overkill when the Qatar World Cup was played in winter, maybe because Christmas arrived a week after that glorious final between Argentina and France.

Maybe major tournaments are better in the winter, when there is less to do outside.  

Going back to the tepid appetite for Premier League footy on the telly, there is a wonderful response further down the pyramid.

If you can, check out the footage of Wayne Rooney celebrating Plymouth Argyle’s dramatic last-minute winner against Sunderland last weekend.

This is one of our greatest ever footballers, a man with humongous personal wealth who is immensely famous, and yet for those who have been fortunate enough to meet him at Home Park, a man who is incredibly humble, friendly and committed to Argyle.

In that one moment in the dying seconds of a Championship ding-dong, none of his previous achievements on the pitch mattered, it was all about the unbridled joy of watching his new team secure a massive three points.

Pop down a few divisions, witness the delight of Torquay United fans to see their club emerge from such a dark period to now enjoy hope for the future.

On the other side of the football coin, Exeter City battled bravely for 90 minutes to come within seconds of earning a valuable League One point at Blackpool. Then, in one moment, the 550-mile round trip was ruined by a late, late winner for the hosts.

That’s it, the ecstasy and the agony, that’s what makes football the beautiful game.

It’s not to say there is less passion at the top of the game, of course not, love for your club is unmatchable, whether that club is Manchester United or Maidstone.

Where football at the top becomes increasingly dull is the dominance of finance, and all the tiring chat that comes with money.

Manchester City win another game, playing exceptional football, and next come the clever comments about financial fair play, have they broken the rules, should they be demoted to the Isthmian Division Four?

Quite frankly, who cares?

What does it matter who has the richest owner, which club is financially backed by which country. So what if Manchester City or Newcastle spend billions on a reserve right-back. When match-day comes, it is still 11 v 11, Luton can still win at the Etihad, Liverpool can still slip up at Bournemouth.

Rather than worrying about which owner spends the most money, let the top clubs buy the players if they want, they can only play 11 of them in one game.

Perhaps the answer is to limit the number of players clubs can employ, at least a quarter of them have to be homegrown from their youth systems, and also a quarter must hail from the country in which a team competes.

It means young talent gets a chance to shine, indigenous talent can flourish and player limits ensures enough elite talent to share around.

The counter-argument is the top players could end up featuring in 60+ matches every season…I hear the response already, ’they earn enough money, stop complaining and get a real job’.

But football isn’t a real job, a normal job, it is highly competitive professional sport. We don’t expect boxers to fight every week or athletes to complete fortnightly marathons.

The ponderous nature of too many games in the recent Euros demonstrated that these top lads are knackered, it doesn’t matter how much money you have in the bank if you’re too tired to perform.

So one final suggestion, limit the number of competitive games any individual can play in a season, more players get a chance to impress and overall quality improves.

Unfortunately, standing in the way of these suggestions are FIFA, UEFA, TV companies and all the sponsors at the top of the game. Their equation: Rodri, Bellingham and Mbappe playing three times a week equals more cash.

Does it, though? Not if we’re all bored of football on the telly. Right now, I’d rather watch a last-minute winner at Home Park, Plainmoor, St James Park or a windy field in Brixham!