From Aleksander Włodarz : Brexit
Thank you Lord for ANR …
And thank you for Brendan !
From DJ :
Hi Myles,
In the absence of football I like the opinion pieces you are posting on Brexit.
I appreciate that you posted opinion pieces from both sides which elaborate on why they feel a certain way and think that way.
One of the highlights of thinking critically and moving a discussion forward is to be able to hold opposing thoughts ,ponder over it and think critically about it against one’s own beliefs. Of course all of this has to be backed by actual facts and data and not strawman arguments.
That brings me to how Brexit will affect English football since this blog is primarily about that.
According to Arsene Wenger “”If the league becomes less attractive, TV companies will spend less money, the revenues of clubs are going to decrease and the Premier League is going to suffer the consequences.”
English football had a lot of foreign investment from billionaires from Russia, Arab countries among others. This ensured that they were able to attract top talent, make teams more marketable and multi-cultural.
A lower sterling value and hostility towards immigrants would mean the reverse. Much as old time working class supporters see ticket prices increase as clubs cater to richer supporters with more socio-economic mobility , at what point do we draw a line of business versus tribalism?
At what point do we draw a balance between accepting all races, classes , nationalities into supporting a global football club versus adhering to old ideals and fan bases who are not economically appealing enough?
Would Mesut Ozil and Sergio Aguero have wanted to play in England in the 70s and 80s when hooliganism, tough tackling and working class tribalism was at its peak?
Riyad Mahrez and N’Golo Kante played for Leicester. And that helps a working class boy like Jamie Vardy too.
Myles says :
It’s not Leicester’s unexpected title that’s provoked huge spending by the bigger clubs.
Increasingly, the Foxes fairytale looks like a perfect storm, a one-off success story.
I’d love to see another club do that but fear Claudio Ranieri’s achievement, although richly deserved, will not be repeated and cannot be copied.
The big clubs were all flawed last season and Chelsea, the champions, only won 12 league games.