Maybe I am just becoming a grumpy old bastard, but I am not that excited in the return of Champions League football tonight.
We have not played in UEFA’s premier competition since 2017, and I can understand why fans are a bit giddy today – especially those 20 or under. But I have seen us play Champions League football for 19-years in a row, so it really is not something too special for me.
I was there at Wembley in 1998 when the club made the horrendous decision to play Champions League games in North-West London to maximise profits. I sat watching the 2006 Final from my University house in the middle of my final year law exams wishing I was out there.
I have been to Rome, Munich, Milan, Paris and more. The competition has never been that close to my heart, and I will always prefer the FA Cup.
For me, the Champions League is not about establishing who the “best team in Europe is”. It is all about generating the most money for UEFA and those clubs participating. That is why UEFA are changing the format to something no-one wanted. It is all about more games generating more revenue to pay for those 5* hotels that UEFA delegates love so much.
So yes, from a financial point of view, it is good that Arsenal are back in the Champions League. But from a footballing point of view, I do not care.
In another example of greed, the Premier League are reportedly looking to “increase the TV rights deal with 25% more games being shown live on TV”.
Including in their plans is a new television kick-off time of 6:30pm on a Sunday.
It is example 32438578352 that Sky Sports, the Premier League, et al’s response to the European Super League was simply fakery. They have no interest in the match going fans that they “stood up for”. There only issue was that they were not invited to the party.
It is hard enough already to get home from Newcastle, Liverpool and more for a 4:30pm Sunday kick off. A 6:30pm kick off will mean you will not be back to the local train station until around 7:30pm. And then if you do manage to get the last train, you are back at Kings Cross or Euston for midnight.
Fans who see football as a TV show, who complain each week about their favourite show club not being on TV devery weekend, will love this. They will be saying “but without the TV money Arsenal will not exist”.
That is simply not true.
Football survives across the world without TV deals as big as the Premier League’s, and without huge international fan bases.
I go football to watch The Arsenal. I would watch us regardless of whether we had William Saliba, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus or James Tarkowski, James Garner and Dominic Calvert-Lewin. I would be there week in, week out regardless of whether we were Premier League or Leauge Two.
I support Arsenal because I love the club, I found somewhere where I belong, not because we have global superstars playing for us, win trophies or play in the Premier League.
As we have seen with Manchester City fans mocking Luton Town, football is now filled with TV fans who just do not get it (note: I am not talking about all TV fans). They support their team not because they are local or have family ties, but because they win trophies or have their favourite players.
When their team stops winning trophies, they will find a new hobby. When their favourite player leaves, they will support the club they join. For me, this is not what being a football fan is all about.
Luton, meanwhile, are a community club whose fans have been on a journey over the last decade. From 5th tier to Premier League. They are everything that Wrexham try to market themselves as.
On a side note, it is laughable that Wrexham’s new TV show describes them as an “underdog” last season, when they are financed by two millionaire actors and were buying to players from League One and had the higher wage budget than many clubs two leagues above them. “Watch them win their first title in 40-years” – I imagine many of their new TV fans will not even realise they were playing in the 5th tier….
Luton have done brilliant to go from the brink of extinction to Premier League football in a decade.
I would rather watch my club in the ground week in, week out surrounded by locals, at 3pm on a Saturday and win nothing than watch a global brand on TV every week winning trophies. The new breed of Man City fans are everything their older fans hated about Manchester United.
At some point we need to say “no” to the TV companies.
More games on TV and more revenue will not equal better players. Premier League clubs already over pay for mid-tier players in comparison to elsewhere in Europe. Do Chelsea really need another Ā£50m a year to overspend on random players?
All more games on TV benefits is those fans that see us as a TV show. And you will all moan when your Sky subscription has to go up to pay for them.
Anyway, I look forward to the game tonight. I will be there in the ground even if I am not excited, backing my team 100%.
UTA
Keenos
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 