English Football - The Fan's View

The last few weeks has highlighted the problems with English football. Is football becoming a shadow of what it once was? Shocking managerial changes, extortionate ticket prices, and dwindling attendances are all ruining a sport dubbed 'the beautiful game'. Is the game that hundreds of thousands of people adore becoming a farce?

Managerial Changes
Over the past few months there has been a high number of managerial changes in all three nPower leagues, plus the recent sacking of Nigel Adkins of Premier League Southampton despite gaining promotion to the top tier. Fan's patience during a bad run quickly runs thin. Steve Kean bore the brunt of angered Blackburn fans before being forced out by the controversial Venky's, and furious Bournemouth supporters made their frustrations known before the sacking of Paul Groves. Are fans expecting too much? Are managers given enough time? 

Nigel Adkins

I thought that in this blog I would highlight the more ludicrous managerial changes from this season, starting with Nigel Adkins' and his sacking from Southampton just this week. Adkins was appointed manager of the South-coast side in 2010, 3 games into their League One season. That season he guided them to promotion back to the Championship, and the following season saw them gain double promotion, placing them back in the Premier League for the first time since 2005. The Premier League season has seen Saints' struggle so far. They sit in the bottom half of the table, hovering above the relegation zone. Surely poor form would be an acceptable reason to relieve Mr Adkins of his position? In my opinion, wrong. As a club recently promoted after just one season in the Championship they were always going struggle, and the main aim would be to stay up, and with healthy new investment in January, no doubt they would be pulling out all the stops to avoid the drop. I find this totally ludicrous. While the most optimistic Saints' fan's will be confident they can avoid relegation, some are already condemning themselves to a season in the second tier.

Sean O'Driscoll was appointed the new man in charge at Nottingham Forest in July after leaving Crawley Town, baffling Reds fans who thought SO'D was their man to lead them in League One. On Boxing Day, Nottingham Forest had beaten Leeds 4-2, and Forest were sitting comfortably in 8th place, just of the play offs. O'Driscoll had Forest playing neat, passing football and supporters were delighted. Bearing this in mind, the events that developed that night stunned the football community and caused uproar among Forest fans. Al Hasawi, the new Kuwaiti owner of Forest had sacked Sean O'Driscoll. The highly regarded, and respected manager had had his contract terminated and within days Alex McLeish was installed as the new manager. However, O'Driscoll's experience was not to be wasted. After Derek McInnes left struggling Bristol City, O'Driscoll replaced him and was immediately thrown into a relegation battle. Another pointless, ridiculous sacking? 

Sean O'Driscoll

So, in total 6 managers have been sacked this season from the Championship, 4 from League One, and 6 from League Two. To name a few; Keith Hill (Barnsley), Carl Fletcher (Plymouth Argyle), Terry Brown (AFC Wimbledon), Alan Knill (Scunthorpe Utd) and Stale Solbakken (Wolverhampton Wanderers). Obviously, those just mentioned were all given the boot after consistent bad performance, with all sitting near the bottom of their respective league tables, but those not, e.g. SO'D, there has to be questions asked of the owners credibility and judgement. 

AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL.

Ticket Prices

Arsenal v Manchester City - Away ticket £62. 

Cheapest season ticket at Old Trafford - £532.

Most expensive season ticket at the Emirates - £1955

Cheapest adult ticket at Watford FC - £26.

Cheapest adult ticket at Swindon Town - £19

Cheapest adult ticket at Rotherham United - £21.

Protests by angry City fans...

These are, to name just a few, some of the incredible ticket prices fans must pay to watch a game of football. They were strong protest by Manchester City fans at their recent game against Arsenal after they were forced to pay £62; City returned 900 unsold tickets for the game. 

In the 1980's most clubs charged just £2 or £3 for entrance to the match, one tenth the prices of those currently. Ludicrous prices are putting fans off and meaning attendances decrease dramatically. Fans not only have to shell out on tickets, but travel to the game, food, drinks and a match programme, and an average day out now costs £50-£70. 

AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL.

Dwindling Attendances

Football is a sport where thousands come in their droves to watch their team. Packed out terraces in the 1980's were the epitome of football. Now...

Empty seats are a common sight at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium

 ...Empty seats can be seen at almost every ground, even at clubs that are top of the league. Huge generic arenas, built in hope of a new era for the clubs see just half the seats filled with fans failing to turn up for big games.

Coventry's Ricoh Arena also fails to draw the fans...

Although attendances often depend on the success of the team, sometimes this is not the case. Sometimes it is the location of a team which affects the fan base. The best known example is Wigan Athletic. Consistently low attendances are not due to their season-by-season relegation battle, but due to their location in Greater Manchester, close to Manchester Utd and City, and the fact that Wigan is home to the Warriors rugby league side. 

The dwindling Wigan support at the DW Stadium....

What should be done to increase the number of fans at games? Football is being tarnished and our beautiful game is being ruined. 

AGAINST MODERN FOOTBALL.