The Premier League: a divided division
It has been common knowledge for a long time now that football at the highest level has become a completely money-driven game. Without it, success in any of the world’s top leagues is in short, unreachable. This is no doubt perfectly exemplified by the big bucks Barclays Premier League, where to the big players like United and City, money seems no object. But what about the remaining clubs, those who have less financial clout, are they doomed to a life of mid-table obscurity? Or worse, will they face constant yo-yoing between the Championship and Premiership?
Football as a whole, but in particular the Premier League, has become deeply polarised. The sheer difference in ambition between the top four; who all have a realistic chance of becoming champions and the rest; who for many the primary concern is to avoid relegation, is vast. You could possibly discount Liverpool and Spurs from those fearing relegation, with Tottenham’s breaking of the top four in the 2009-2010 season and Liverpool’s recent cash injection giving them some security.
However, as the failure of Spurs or any other club to break the top four this season has shown, without huge investment seen by the likes of Man City, such successes are often short lived. Also prevalent is the position of clubs like Everton and Aston Villa, who have both made surges into the top four in recent seasons, only to peter out. For Everton it is a lack of investment that has constantly been the anchor holding them back, whereas Villa, who are certainly not strapped for cash, it has been more of a case of not attracting enough talent with their sizeable budget.
Similarly, what of those clubs who languish in mid-table obscurity, how do they approach each season in terms of goals and ambitions? Other than surviving for another year of plodding into the spaces just outside the top ten, what motivates the fans to spend their hard earned cash only to see the season end as it always does? Avoiding the relegation dogfight by a place or so every season simply cannot bring that much satisfaction to the faithful of clubs such as Bolton and Blackburn. A common denominator runs clear through all these clubs: a much smaller budget than the big boys.
However, although it appears so, (especially in the case of Man City) money does not buy success. This statement is conveyed consummately by the experiences of Birmingham City last season. Their takeover by the Hong Kong based businessman Carson Yeung promised great investment and a brighter future yet within a season they had been relegated to the Championship.
The only truly important question is how long can this deep divide be sustained? How long will it be before fans of mid-table plodders and those regularly threatened with relegation say enough is enough? Although fans will always stay loyal to their club, it does not necessarily mean they will continue to splash out on increasingly expensive match tickets. Why would they? They can still watch their team on the TV or listen agonisingly to the radio, they’re still showing their support, just not wasting their money.
