CRISIS AT ROOTS OF THE GAME
IT was another week of celebration for those lucky enough to dine at English football’s top table after another multi-billion pound TV deal.
But further down the food chain, life is becoming increasingly unpalatable.
Sky and BT Sport this week agreed to pay £4.46billion for five of the seven Premier League broadcast packages between 2019 and 2022.
That’s enough to make everyone at grassroots level weep, particularly at a time of year when most teams are lucky if their mud-heap is passed fit for 90 minutes of action.
“We know there are teams out there who haven’t played since the end of October – it’s now nearly March,” said Paul Kirton, a spokesperson for the South Shields-based organisation Grassroots Football.
“You’ve got £400,000 a week paid to Alexis Sanchez and, a mile away from Man United’s training ground, you’ve got teams who haven’t played for four months. That can’t be right.”
Kirton advises grassroots teams across the country and is only too aware of the mounting problems in the game below the top level.
The quality of facilities, either as a result of neglect or underinvestment, is among the biggest concerns. The collapse of leagues, particularly in Sunday football, has also served to emphasise how tight finances are outside of the Premier League’s mega-bucks bubble.
“The money keeps flooding in at the top level, but life just gets tougher and tougher for everyone else,” said Graham Rodber, vice-chairman of the Southern Sunday Football League in south London.
“We’re in the sixth week of the new year and 75 per cent of our fixtures have been called off over the last four weeks because of badly maintained and poor pitches.
“You have clubs paying £2,000 in advance for pitches at the beginning of the season and then booking a 3G pitch on a Sunday at an additional cost of £150. That’s not sustainable in the long term.”
The financial problems also carry a physical and emotional cost.
“Sometimes the football club is the only stability that these kids have,” said Kirton.
“Coaches help to instil discipline and positive traits and, because of social care cuts, there is nowhere else for someone to gain that crutch.”
Everyone, it seems, is now paying a high price for the beautiful game.