Inside U.K.

Business of Football Clouds Game'S Future

By STEVE HILL

Football has become such a massive business these days in Britain that it is never far from the headlines.

Either England manager Glenn Hoddle is being run out of office over his latest unguarded remarks about his views on Christianity and reincarnation, or one of the top clubs is again splashing out an exorbitant amount of money on a new signing.

The sport has undergone quite an incredible transformation in the last 10 years or so. Not long ago, attendance was falling as the public found things to do on a Saturday afternoon other than watching poor-quality games at outdated grounds, where the only thought given to spectator comfort was whether you wanted onions or not on a typically greasy and unappetizing hot dog.

It's a completely different game now, in more ways than one.

Millions of pounds have been spent on improving grounds, many of which are now all-seater as a reaction to well-publicized tragedies in the 1980s.

Money pumped into football by satellite TV broadcasters has given clubs the finances necessary to buy star players from around the world.

And that, aided by the landmark European Court Bosman ruling — under which players can now leave a club when their contract expires without being subject to a transfer fee — has helped change the sport.

Player power is now at an all-time high, aided by a secondary court ruling that decreed European clubs can field as many foreign players as they like. Just 20 years ago, there were hardly enough overseas players here to put out a world select team. Now, in the Premiership League alone, there are more than 150 foreigners from over 50 nations!

Some of the world's greatest footballers can be seen each week displaying their skills, such as French World Cup winning duo Emmanuuel Petit and Patrick Veira who are at the London club Arsenal.

Some teams have embraced the concept of internationalism more enthusiastically than others. Chelsea, for example, often put out a side featuring only two English players, following the signing of stars from Italy, Romania, Spain, Norway, Russia, France and Uruguay.

In contrast, Aston Villa, currently challenging for the title, pride themselves on a "best of British" approach, preferring to hire home-bred players.

Once it becomes known that a world star is available for trans fer, a mass stampede starts here in Britain with clubs fighting to write out a fat check.

Manchester United, for example, spent a record £10.75 million (¥2.36 billion) for a defender on buying Dutchman Jaap Stam.

Wage levels are at a record high — sums of £30,000 (¥6.6 million) per week are not unusual — but these are figures the clubs can afford because a record number of spectators are flocking to watch games.

The finance men are happy. The cost of investing in players can quickly be justified by ticket revenue and the many millions that are generated by supporters' enthusiasm for merchandising spin-offs such as replica kits.

But, in the background, a few wise people are beginning to question the wisdom of bringing so many foreigners to play football here.

Their very presence means there are fewer opportunities for outstanding young British stars to prove themselves and come through the system, particularly when clubs start bringing in teenagers from overseas.

The quality and number of players pressing for places in the England team could, in the future, be dramatically affected.

And for how much longer will clubs be able to afford multimillion pound transfer fees and wage demands, which show no sign of falling?

It is for these reasons that clubs such as Liverpool are trying to take a much longer-term view of the future by investing massive sums of money in youth academies, where outstanding junior players are groomed for stardom.

The Merseyside club is reported to have spent £10 million (¥2.2 billion) in putting in place its academy, money which it is felt will be well spent if only one new Michael Owen — the teenage sensation of last summer's World Cup — comes through its ranks.

Parents of promising junior players can find themselves under tremendous pressure from clubs eager to sign up anyone who has the potential to play at the highest level. In London last month, a Premiership club invited an outstanding 6-year-old to attend training in the hope that when old enough, he will feel inclined to pursue a professional career under their wing.

However an unseemly fight broke out recently when an outstanding 15-year-old decided to join Arsenal, leaving rival clubs to complain bitterly about underhand dealings and negotiations, sparking an official inquiry.

Football, it is clear, is more than just a game these days.

Shukan ST: Feb. 19, 1999

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