Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 6 October 2011

6 October 2011

Mardy Diary writes: Football is cyclical - we know this; there are seasons and within those seasons there are games. And we turn up each season whether for one match or more and we pay our money in our own little personal routine. And this goes on and on. Occasionally we break out of the cycle and step away for a season or two, but we still listen to the radio or check the results. Even those who claimed they were walking away for good - they're still looking at the results. The cycle continues and they don't really break free.

But sometimes that cycle is broken: a club is stolen or driven into the ground. But even then supporters look to create a new routine with a new club, to bring the cycle back in to their life. What is it that draws us in? What are we looking for? Entertainment? It should be, but we know there won't always be entertainment, that turning up is a bit of a gamble. We bet on the chance of entertainment each time we enter the ground, or listen to the radio or even look out for that result. We pay with money or time, with fragments of our life, in the hope that there is some sort of redemption for this sacrifice we have made. But our returns seem to diminish as time passes.

That football is a business is seemingly a given now - even the pundits can't help but remind us. Those who played the game or who sought careers in the dissemination and analysis of the game, they tell us it's a business. But it's not really, is it? It's a sport first and, as argued above, entertainment second. And for those of us who opt to ride on this infinite cycle, it is for entertainment, or the hope of being entertained. But how is this entertainment measured - through success? Perhaps, but the bare facts show that success - for most teams - is fleeting. Look at the histories of most teams and count the successful seasons and you will see a low return rate. So it is about the pursuit of success, and so the measure of entertainment is the progress of our respective teams along that path. But this is quite a subjective measure - one really only relevant to individuals or small groups of like-minded supporters.

But football is a business, apparently. The money men have taken our sport and transmogrified it to the ego-driven sport that they enjoy: money, power, control. We measure success in the business world through the accumulation of wealth, through financial accounting and stock market strength.

So how does football rank in this domain? I look at football teams and I see debt. Unmanageable, unsurmountable debt for miles around, across countries, across continents, across the world. Football is a business that is failing. Football is a business that should have long since gone into receivership. It should be an ex-business. But there it is, still going on, against the odds, but the odds are skewed by those with the money and the power who continue to accelerate this exponential debt growth. If it is broke, they say, then break it some more. More money, more wealth for the lucky few who rise to the top and thus subsequently more cost for those of us stuck in the cycle of 'support'.

So as the cost of football increases for us - through ticket prices, merchandise, TV subscriptions, internet subscriptions and whatever scheme they come up with next to bleed a few more pence from us - are we really sure we're getting value for money any more? Not just at Grimsby, where the question is a simple one to answer - but all football, across the globe? And are we complicit because we continue to pay the money, because we can't break the cycle? Or is the money in football already way beyond what we have put into clubs through our years of support? But how can football sustain itself if it continues to spend money it doesn't have year on year? It can't. Simple.

Football is a failing business. This is the new mantra. But the sport - this will survive the business and the bigger cycle will begin again.