Football briefly interesting as fans win the day

It must have been sometime around 1949 or ’50 that my father tried to interest me in football by dragging my young self to watch Aldershot play.

It was not a success, I was bored rigid, taking no pleasure from standing in a freezing arena surrounded by men who shouted or groaned loudly according to the antics of the people on the pitch. I confess the antics of the players held no interest for me. In those days, teams were mainly named after the towns from which they came and the players had ties to the towns.

Of course, it is in the nature of many people to seek to make money out of the activities enjoyed by others.

But just making money isn’t enough for some people; they always want more.

And this is where the multi-billionaire Arabs,

Americans and Russian oligarchs come in.

Ownership, they think, gives them the right to do what they like with their toys, regardless of the people who made them worth having in the first place. In this case, the fans who idolise the players.

Owners apparently regard the clubs and fans as little more than commodities. So they think of a way to make more money - they subscribe to a new

Superleague. The fans wouldn’t have it. Fan power won the day.

This has been the first time in my life that anything to do with football has held the slightest interest for me.

Council planners have decided that a much- needed GP surgery can’t be built in Kingsnorth, deeming the proposed site to be ‘inappropriate’. With the absurdly high population growth expected, GPs surgeries should be built wherever there is a spare inch of space. The planners have been happy enough to have the town ruined with inappropriate flats. I suppose the idea is that, if the flats do eventually get sold, the increase council tax income will count for more than the health of residents

Ownership, they think, gives them the right to do what they like with their toys, regardless of the people who made them worth having in the first place