Football (or Soccer) Conversations, the Same Anywhere in the World

Wherever I have been in the world and the conversation turns to sport and then invariably it then turns to football (soccer), the round ball game (not the egg shaped ball). The game of eleven a side and the players kick the ball to pass it or to score. You know the game I am referring to.

As I was saying, wherever in the world the conversation turns to football, and as soon as I mention England or English football or the premier league as the top flight or division of football is currently known. Almost any follower or fan of football throughout the world can name maybe four teams from England. Usually these are the big four, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. These international fans can often tell you all there is to know about their adopted favourite, but they seem to forget or just don't realise the rest of the teams that make up this league. There are 92 teams playing in four divisions throughout England, with many lesser teams struggling in lower leagues trying to progress up the divisions and maybe one day get their chance against the so called big teams.

Whenever you mention a team outside of the big four you are just given back blank stares, it is like these other sides don't exist, what do these people think that the four teams just play each other all the time?

The problem has been created by the TV stations, notably the satellite sports channels. They pay big money into the rights to broadcast and invariably want the biggest sides to be screened. These matches are then shown throughout the world via different broadcasters and it becomes as no surprise that the new fans that are emerging in places like the Far East are now diehard fans of the earlier mentioned teams. One of the consequences of this is that these few teams get richer and richer, they can afford to pay outrageous wages to entice to best players and because of the success of these few they continue to get richer. The game in England has now become very predictable, no team outside of this elite little group has any chance of winning the champions trophy for being the best side that year and yet only a few years ago other teams were doing just that.

Another downside to this is the smaller teams are struggling to keep going, with fewer fans going to watch. It used to be easily affordable to go along and watch but now because of the outrageous wages of those at the top of the game, even lesser players expect to get paid more. Fewer fans are going to watch at the stadiums, mostly because of the cost to offset the wage demands. During the cold winter evenings it is more comfortable to watch at home in front of the TV, or at a bar. One or two sides have folded, many others are struggling financially and the gap between success and failure gets ever wider. In a few years the number of teams playing week in week out may become a smaller total, the victims of the success of a few, but overall the genuine fan will be the victim as well particularly if one of those teams that falls by the wayside is theirs.