So Newcastle join ManC and Chelsea in the multi billionaires club with ManU and Aston Villa in the big boys league. I guess Liverpool are knocking at the door for entry to the top table. After that there is the mid-table group of well run clubs with ambition but lacking the ability to write blank cheques like Everton and WHU; at the bottom ever more condemned to the yoyo with the Championship are the likes of Norwich, WBA, Fulham.
One of footballs great attractions is the unexpected. Whilst 50 teams have made it to the Premiership since it was founded, staying there is much more difficult and just became even more so. Andy Logan suggests that all clubs should be limited in their transfer budget to the TV money. Personally I think this is too restrictive, but the concept of well run clubs with emphasis on the football ability is a good one. It makes sense for the clubs with bigger support to be more successful. The money generated needs to be put back into football, not shareholders or owners pockets. So it is a conundrum. It is a bit like society – capitalism has distorted reality with massive wealth and widespread poverty. The same is happening in football, and both will collapse at some stage, not necessarily in a huge tsunami, but like coastal erosion, bit by bit.
Maybe if all clubs were majority owned by the fans, and clubs only allowed to spend according to their income. I would need an economist to work this one out. I would want clubs to be able to sign the likes of Lukaku and Ronaldo – maybe there should be an age limit on foreign players transfers? So the emphasis was on improving players brought in.
I think the City of Manchester has benefitted from the investments made ib Man City – less so ManU as Old Trafford is apparently rather worn nowadays. If only by the investment in new buildings, to I suspect that Media City was also attracted due to investments made (originally for the Commonwealth Games. West Ham United also benefited from The 2012 Olympics and now have huge gates, I hope some of that inflow of money reaches the likes of Leyton Orient (who should be made members of the league in perpetuity along with Plymouth Argyle, Crewe Alexandra, Preston North End, Tottenham Hotspur,Port Vale, and some newcomers like Blythe Spartans just because of their names!