The Football (soccer) thread.
Posted: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:57 pm
As the worlds favourite sport, I thought football should have its own thread.
Like most Brits I have a lifelong devotion to a club that has been passed down the generations. I support the team my grandfather started watching in the 1930s when he crept under the turnstiles at half time when he succesfully escaped the orphanage on a saturday afternoon. My team Aston Villa are one of the oldest in the world (second oldest professional football club) and first played in 1874. They are comfortably the largest club in the West Midlands, a conurbation of more the 5 million people, but have not won much since reaching the pinnacle of club football by winning the European Cup in 1982.
Today is a sad day for football in my country, and in Europe as a whole. 12 greedy owners have announced a breakaway 'European Super League' with no promotion and relegation on the US model of shit non competitive sport. They are fed up of upstarts winning trophies, and possible interruptions to their 'business model', They don't give a fuck about the 'legacy fans' (local supporters with longstanding links) those horrible unwashed working class people that used to fund them before TV money. No they want uninterrupted access to plastic fans around the globe.
English football is tribal. Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea have declared war on football in general and even their own fans. And lets not pretend this is about creating a good competition, These so called 'big 6' have some mediocre clubs amongst them regards actually being any good at football.
My club beat Liverpool 7-2 this season, and has beaten Arsenal twice. Spurs have not won the league since 1962 (during that time my club have won the League, the League cup 5 times, the European Cup, and the European Super Cup). None of Spurs, Manchester City or Arsenal have ever won the European Cup. Both Man City and Chelsea have spent the majority of their history bouncing up and down the leagues and winning nothing. No this is about billionaire owners, and TV moguls. Spurs and Arsenal are involved purely as they are in London and have marketing potential, they could not possibly be included on sporting merit. Indeed Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs are all unlikely to qualify for European competition this season.
The power struggle has begun, with UEFA (the European governing body), the FA (The English governing body), condemning it, along with the Prime Minister, all opposition political parties in the UK, and pretty much all supporters here. The Italian government has followed suit (AC Milan, Internazionale, and Juventus are involved in this mess), and the Spanish government (Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona are involved).
To their credit the big German clubs (Bayern Munich and Burussia Dortmund) have disowned it, as have PSG in France.
I hope they get chucked out of their domestic leagues, and legitimate European competitions. Not holding my breath though.
Like most Brits I have a lifelong devotion to a club that has been passed down the generations. I support the team my grandfather started watching in the 1930s when he crept under the turnstiles at half time when he succesfully escaped the orphanage on a saturday afternoon. My team Aston Villa are one of the oldest in the world (second oldest professional football club) and first played in 1874. They are comfortably the largest club in the West Midlands, a conurbation of more the 5 million people, but have not won much since reaching the pinnacle of club football by winning the European Cup in 1982.
Today is a sad day for football in my country, and in Europe as a whole. 12 greedy owners have announced a breakaway 'European Super League' with no promotion and relegation on the US model of shit non competitive sport. They are fed up of upstarts winning trophies, and possible interruptions to their 'business model', They don't give a fuck about the 'legacy fans' (local supporters with longstanding links) those horrible unwashed working class people that used to fund them before TV money. No they want uninterrupted access to plastic fans around the globe.
English football is tribal. Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Chelsea have declared war on football in general and even their own fans. And lets not pretend this is about creating a good competition, These so called 'big 6' have some mediocre clubs amongst them regards actually being any good at football.
My club beat Liverpool 7-2 this season, and has beaten Arsenal twice. Spurs have not won the league since 1962 (during that time my club have won the League, the League cup 5 times, the European Cup, and the European Super Cup). None of Spurs, Manchester City or Arsenal have ever won the European Cup. Both Man City and Chelsea have spent the majority of their history bouncing up and down the leagues and winning nothing. No this is about billionaire owners, and TV moguls. Spurs and Arsenal are involved purely as they are in London and have marketing potential, they could not possibly be included on sporting merit. Indeed Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs are all unlikely to qualify for European competition this season.
The power struggle has begun, with UEFA (the European governing body), the FA (The English governing body), condemning it, along with the Prime Minister, all opposition political parties in the UK, and pretty much all supporters here. The Italian government has followed suit (AC Milan, Internazionale, and Juventus are involved in this mess), and the Spanish government (Atletico, Real Madrid and Barcelona are involved).
To their credit the big German clubs (Bayern Munich and Burussia Dortmund) have disowned it, as have PSG in France.
I hope they get chucked out of their domestic leagues, and legitimate European competitions. Not holding my breath though.