Not In My Name

Sunday, April 18th, 2021. The day that football died...

 

And to think that following the Fulham game I was preparing to do my usual thing today; dissecting the Arsenal games of the week past. All that seems so redundant now. 

There have already been millions of words written about yesterday's announcement, and I don't see the need to rehash them. I'm sure that we've all read and heard the words of condemnation from fans, broadcasters, ex-players and other clubs alike. All I can put here is a fan's perspective. So here it is; from the heart:

Firstly, shock. And then, an emptiness... I suppose it feels like being jilted; like I've lost one of the loves of my life. She will never mean the same to me. 

I know that many things have changed in the last 20 years in football, and sport in general, in the name of 'progress'. Abramovich as the fore-runner of the swathe of super-wealthy owners who now dominate the top echelons of English and European football. Arsenal feeling cornered into moving to a new stadium. Obscene television rights deals and wages.  Kroenke Sports Enterprises as absentee owners. World Cups being awarded to the highest bidders, irrespective of the quality of their offer. Blatter, Platini, Warner and others.... I could go on. 

The love I've lost is the football that I grew up with, and it has been replaced by an overwhelming desire on behalf of the owners and federations to make money. The people's game has been lost to the people, and this is perhaps the final straw. At the moment it feels like it is; for me at least.

If football hierarchy in England is a pyramid, with Liverpool, the Manchester clubs and Chelsea currently (it is - or rather used to be - a cyclical process) at the very top (and Arsenal now on the second tier and heading towards the third), then what can you put on top of a pyramid the make it even taller? A spike, perhaps? Or does that spike represent a stake being driven into the very heart of the people's game.

Because for all their talk of delivering 'the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole', and providing 'additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid', this is merely about money being further siphoned off to an increasingly smaller number of people - the owners of the breakaway clubs.

There has been talk about this for years of course. Arsene Wenger referenced it in 2009, saying: '... I feel inside our game there are some voices behind the scenes coming up to do something..., especially if the rules become too restrictive for these clubs... teams would have to play in both the European League in midweek and the national league at the weekend. It means all these teams have two teams. The way we are going financially is that even the money that will be coming in from the Champions League will not be enough for some clubs because they spend too much money'.

And it's that final sentence that is the most crucial. Look at the finances of some of the clubs involved and you will see that in order to keep up with each other they have spent money they do not possess. Barcelona are in a terrible state. Both Milan clubs are on the verge of bankruptcy also, from what I've read. Arsenal's owners have clearly been planning for this; not investing sufficiently in the club, but not caring because they knew this was coming. And just like all of Kroenke's 'franchises' in the USA, Arsenal will become a sporting also-ran within this cartel - but the money will keep rolling in to Stan's pockets. The recent success of the LA Rams in reaching the 2020 Superbowl was merely an outlier.

Wenger said today: 'I think it's a bad idea... I believe for me, the most important thing is to keep unity in the game and that football is played the same all over the world and that's it's inside one organisation... absolutely we have to fight to keep football simple, understandable and based on merit and everybody has the same chance and dream to be successful'.

There are those who will, and with reason, accuse UEFA and FIFA of throwing their toys out of the pram (I'd say that their favourite ones have been stolen). But for all their faults this feels beyond the pale. The owners have considered nobody but themselves. Not their fans, and nor their players either. They have in one stroke diminished everything that football stands for, from top to bottom.

I'd suspect, as I intimated, that Kroenke has been part of the planning. But there were ludicrous shenanigans only last month when the club's CEO, Vinai Venkatesham, was voted onto the Board of the European Club Association. How duplicitous, and what a waste of time as Arsenal, along with Manchester United and Chelsea, have now resigned from that organisation - and good old Ed Woodward has also resigned from his role on one of UEFA's committees.

Of course, this League is following the American model of a closed shop. That's how the NFL, NBA, MLB and MLS are run - and Expansion Teams have to pay billions to join them. No relegation, and it's a money-spinner for the owners. But the difference between those organisations - and even the way the Premier League was set up - and this idea is that many of the clubs involved are founder-members. And there's much less history involved. Whilst some horrendous geographical moves occur occasionally - lest we forget that Stan Kroenke's LA Rams (formerly the St Louis Rams) are one of the franchises to have done the dirty deed with their loyal, local supporters), there is a sense of stability and everyone knows where they stand. But what's next - an annual draft to select the best young players for these clubs?

And where this differs from football is that it takes it so far away from its roots to be unrecognisable. Owners may argue that it's their club, and therefore they can do what they like with it, but they are destroying the history and legacy of the people's game. Clubs that were formed when working men came together are now the playthings of the super-rich. They have totally disenfranchised their supporters - but they don't care! The owners are already talking about 'legacy fans' - people like myself - but they are more interested in new fans; those with much less loyalty to the club and who are merely interested in seeing the best players; no matter who they play for. 

And this is the hard thing for me. I'm a 'legacy fan' of 54 years standing, having first been taken to Highbury by my father in 1966 when I was just 6 years old. And I really, really want to walk away from what has turned into a toxic relationship with my club. That's so hard to do, but I'm going to have to try. I've felt more and more disenfranchised over the past 15 years or so, and this feels like the last straw.

And whilst I really wanted to talk about reaching the Europa League semi-final and meeting up with Unai Emery once more, and about the sad demise of Jose Mourinho from his latest job - thus breaking the axis of evil that was him and Tottenham - I just can't be bothered. It doesn't seem to matter any more. (Actually, on the subject of Tottenham; how on earth do they qualify for this Super League? Certainly not on the basis of their history. But do you know what... I can't even summon up the energy to laugh at them).

It does feel like this was inevitable. And of course I'd prefer that Arsenal were part of this group than not; I can't imagine the incandescence of supporters of the likes of Leicester City, Everton and West Ham. It feels to an extent that Arsenal are hanging on to the coat tails of the European giants, and if this had waited another couple of years it might have been too late for the club to be included, the way things are going. 

I suppose we can now look forward to never qualifying for the latter stages of the tournament; it will be such joy to lose to Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester City on a far more regular basis. Match-ups that had to be earned will now be commonplace for Arsenal - and where's the fun in that? I want my club to fight for the right to play these sides; a genuine meritocracy - don't you?

But in all honesty I really need to concentrate on the bigger picture. Football died yesterday for me; and I have no idea if it can be revived. I ought to check how much season tickets at Boreham Wood FC are; after all, I can walk there in under 10 minutes.

I'm sad. Maybe I, and maybe we, will get used to this new reality. But at the moment I am done wiith Arsenal Football Club as an institution. This deed is 'not in my name', and I completely disagree with it.

I can only apologise if this has just come out as a stream of consciousness. I didn't know where to start, and I don't know how to finish :( 

I'll be back in a few days...