Sport is a funny old game and the traditional industries and loyalties that tie supporters to their local team have become blurred. It is unimaginable that in the 1960s and 1970s boys from Liverpool could ever grow up cheering on Man Utd or Chelsea. What then has changed socially or culturally that makes these conversions acceptable?
We must acknowledge that people have always had second teams, or certainly been fond of another. Many Londoners see Leyton Orient as their second side and people on Merseyside will see how Tranmere Rovers have done on a Saturday evening. In the footballing book, Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby, the Arsenal fanatic, supported Cambridge United at University as well as his beloved Gunners. Many people have affection for bigger teams like Liverpool and Manchester United because of past dynasties like Bill Shankly and Sir Matt Busby. A new generation has been raised up watching Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides in European competitions. Is there a reason though why children wear Chelsea shirts in Northern England?
Social mobility is a cause; people nowadays are far more likely to move away from the place they were born than they were say, 50 years ago. So the roots of both parents and children are far less embedded in the soul of that person. The other reason that seems far more pernicious and irrevocable is the soul of the club. Clubs originally evolved as a leisure activity from Victorian industry e.g. Arsenal was formed by workers from a munitions factory in Woolwich. The increased commercialisation of football clubs has developed them into companies. Some of the current chief executives of Premier League have a background in marketing or managing FTSE 100 corporations. The success of clubs has exponentially become a model of global imperialism. Money spinning tours and selling merchandise is the most effective way to maintain a healthy income stream and increase in global following. You could argue that the omnipotence of the Premier League and the revolution in television coverage means that clubs are no longer entrenched in the heart of certain regions. It is accepted, possibly for the better (?) that watching your local Premier League side you aren’t guaranteed to see any local boys or names on the back of the match programme. According to a statistic 99% of Man United fans have never been to Old Trafford, it’s probable that 98% of them don’t live in Manchester, or England either.
Amateurism died a long time ago, as did the Corinthian spirit. Can we say that clubs have sold out? Possibly, certainly their priorities have changed. Winning the Champions’ League is much more important than the FA Cup. Club emblems have dropped their traditional Latin mottoes for more friendly and modern logos. Owners aren’t local entrepreneurs, they are wealthy foreign businessmen. Football involves nostalgia and talking of golden eras, it is just that we are in an age where romance and glamour-killings happen less frequently.
Fathers will always take their sons to watch the match and people will always support their local sides. But the brand might take them elsewhere, we might even see Premier League games abroad...
We must acknowledge that people have always had second teams, or certainly been fond of another. Many Londoners see Leyton Orient as their second side and people on Merseyside will see how Tranmere Rovers have done on a Saturday evening. In the footballing book, Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby, the Arsenal fanatic, supported Cambridge United at University as well as his beloved Gunners. Many people have affection for bigger teams like Liverpool and Manchester United because of past dynasties like Bill Shankly and Sir Matt Busby. A new generation has been raised up watching Sir Alex Ferguson’s sides in European competitions. Is there a reason though why children wear Chelsea shirts in Northern England?
Social mobility is a cause; people nowadays are far more likely to move away from the place they were born than they were say, 50 years ago. So the roots of both parents and children are far less embedded in the soul of that person. The other reason that seems far more pernicious and irrevocable is the soul of the club. Clubs originally evolved as a leisure activity from Victorian industry e.g. Arsenal was formed by workers from a munitions factory in Woolwich. The increased commercialisation of football clubs has developed them into companies. Some of the current chief executives of Premier League have a background in marketing or managing FTSE 100 corporations. The success of clubs has exponentially become a model of global imperialism. Money spinning tours and selling merchandise is the most effective way to maintain a healthy income stream and increase in global following. You could argue that the omnipotence of the Premier League and the revolution in television coverage means that clubs are no longer entrenched in the heart of certain regions. It is accepted, possibly for the better (?) that watching your local Premier League side you aren’t guaranteed to see any local boys or names on the back of the match programme. According to a statistic 99% of Man United fans have never been to Old Trafford, it’s probable that 98% of them don’t live in Manchester, or England either.
Amateurism died a long time ago, as did the Corinthian spirit. Can we say that clubs have sold out? Possibly, certainly their priorities have changed. Winning the Champions’ League is much more important than the FA Cup. Club emblems have dropped their traditional Latin mottoes for more friendly and modern logos. Owners aren’t local entrepreneurs, they are wealthy foreign businessmen. Football involves nostalgia and talking of golden eras, it is just that we are in an age where romance and glamour-killings happen less frequently.
Fathers will always take their sons to watch the match and people will always support their local sides. But the brand might take them elsewhere, we might even see Premier League games abroad...
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