As the Premier League announced plans to turn its back on 120 years of history and go global yesterday, its self-congratulatory tones were in stark contrast to the feelings of managers and, above all, supporters, who were left feeling more distanced from the game than ever.
Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, caught the mood of the nation upon hearing the news, asking whether it was April Fool’s Day, but it seems that the league’s proposals – to stage an extra “international round” of fixtures in cities such as Los Angeles, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore and Bombay – are no laughing matter for fans, with many quick to condemn the plan as another victory for greed over tradition.
Nor was the Premier League’s announcement warmly welcomed by the Football Association, which stated that it wished to be included in any discussions about how to accommodate the extra matches in an already congested calendar, or Fifa, football’s world governing body, which did not make an official comment but referred to Article 77 of their statutes, which states that “members and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member [nation] without the latter’s approval”.
Under the proposal, a 39th round of fixtures would be introduced in the 2010-11 season, with the matches assigned at random – but with the top five clubs seeded and kept apart – and played on neutral grounds abroad, with the points counting. It is a dramatic departure from the simple “home and away” formula that has served English league football since its inception in 1888.
The reactions of Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, and Michel Platini, the president of Uefa, the European governing body, will be revealing, given the concerns that both have expressed about the “globalisation” of the sport and the motives of overseas owners at some Premier League clubs. But for now, the greatest opposition is coming from supporters’ groups.
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Malcolm Clarke, the chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation, said: “We have no doubt whatsoever that the vast majority of supporters are against this and we believe it would drag the Premier League into the realms of farce.
“When this ludicrous idea was first mooted in October, we ran a poll on our website and . . . 80 per cent were in complete opposition to this. I think that figure will go even higher now that the full ridiculousness of the proposals has been revealed.
“This displays a complete disregard for the proud traditions of the English game as well as a crass lack of consideration for football supporters in general. Basically, it’s a case of, ‘We’ve had their money here now. Where else can we get people to put their hands in their pockets?’ The sole motivation for this is the Premier League to make more money.” The Manchester United Supporters’ Trust called it “the slippery slope towards franchise football”.
Richard Scudamore, the Premier League chief executive, insisted that the plan was not simply motivated by a desire to make money for the league and its clubs. “I would refute this is a commercially driven exercise,” he said. “But it is a way of taking the Premier League forward. If we don’t do it, somebody else will.”