If there has been a good thing to get out of the in-depth Super League plans, it’s proof that coordinated fan resistance works.
With fans still gathering outside Stamford Bridge armed with placards and cans of Stella Artois, the news came on Tuesday night that the club would withdraw from the breakaway competition.
If football fans can stop this, what other evil can they get rid of? We expect quite a lot. Here are six to get you started, though.
Glen Kamara was recently a victim of racist abuse Ian MacNicol / Getty Images
In just 48 hours, there was enough pressure on players, managers and clubs on an elite to lead to the Super League implosion.
Perhaps with a similar level of collective action, football can finally be able to eradicate its racism problem. In both cases, there are many against few.
In the future, similar fan protests may force social media companies and football authorities to punish racists more severely.
Ticket prices must fall | Alex Pantling / Getty Images
At the start of the 2019/2020 season, the cheapest season ticket for adults at Arsenal and Tottenham would give you back the best part of £ 800. That’s more than £ 40 per game to see two intermediate Premier League sides.
When fans are released back into the stadium, the same clubs will try to tear you down again. They will blame the pandemic for squeezing their wallets, but you should not let them squeeze you.
Fan activism against the football prize has led to away tickets being limited in the past and the ethos of the Twenty’s Plenty campaign must now be implemented by 2021.
While we are doing this, we can try to lower the price of pies as well. Ask for a friend …
WSL is extremely popular | Justin Setterfield / Getty Images
Women’s soccer is the fastest growing sport on the planet.
It has recently earned a potentially revolutionary TV business and the numbers show that when you broadcast games, people watch together.
If you were under any illusions that those at the top of the men’s game cared about women’s sports, these notions were shattered by the revelation of the Super League. In the statement, a women’s equivalent league was considered worth only a few sentences.
Enough is enough. It is time for standards and conditions over women’s games to be raised to those given to men.
Nobody wants this Christopher Pike / Getty Images
What on earth is the 2022 World Cup doing in Qatar? Honestly, how did this come about?
The ultra-conservative state criminalizes homosexuality, still carries the death penalty and, according to The Guardian, has been responsible for the deaths of 4,500 migrant workers.
These workers have built precisely the arenas that foreign dignitaries will no doubt see to it that they pose inside in just over a year’s time. Some players have already taken a stand against the tournament.
Now it’s time for followers to flex our muscles.
Leeds is one of many clubs with a betting sponsor | Visionhaus / Getty Images
It is impossible to follow football in the UK without being bombarded with betting ads.
While adults should be free to make their own informed decisions about games, its seriousness in the beautiful game leaves a sour taste in many supporters.
A good start would be to stop the shady practice of clubs tweeting betting offers on their social media accounts. Sponsorship, in-play ads and player markets for game transfers are other things that fans should have a say in.
This man has far too much influence Stefano Guidi / Getty Images
Football agents have a purpose, we will give them that. Giving the club too much power over its staff can lead to some drastic consequences and it is important to have an intermediary who is knowledgeable in the industry.
However, we believe that we can all agree that “superagents” – excuse us while we throw up – is a step too far.
Say no to obscene charges. Say no to them and just look after their own interests over their players. And please, please, please no to Jonathan Barnett who gives 100 radio interviews a year where he says so much, and yet so little, all at the same time.
Cristiano Ronaldo presented for a packed Bernabeu 2009 | AFP / Getty Images
Since Cristiano Ronaldo’s grand transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009, the football transfer market has been gripped by hyperinflation.
Suddenly, a player who is normally worth £ 15 million would go for twice as much, and it is a trend that has continued to leave relatively smaller clubs with absolutely no chance of competing.
In the same way as transfer fees, something must be done to level the playing field – a move that is much more likely to create a “super league” organically than to throw money at it.
