Are fans getting a fair deal?

As a kid I loved football annuals. I don’t know if they exist any more in this brave new world of social media and digital publishing but best of all were the photographs.

I’m reminded of Harold Pinter’s poetic eulogy of Leonard Hutton:

“I saw Leonard Hutton in his prime

Different time, different time”

The time – represented by Tommy Docherty’s brilliant young Chelsea team – was a photograph of skipper Terry Venables carrying a banner round Stamford Bridge with the words

“Thank you for your support”

You would not see that nowadays.

Fans are measured by their spend, not their loyalty. They are customers.

There is another aspect beyond high ticket prices, the megastore and fixtures moved at short  notice to accommodate Sky or BT – and that is VAR.

Before a fan can celebrate a goal he/she has to ensure there is no referral to VAR.

Far from doing what it was supposed to do, namely correct errors, it now ruins one of football’s greatest assets – its continuity.

Pargie made another point to me.

He backed New Zealand to win the Rugby World Cup at 3-1 and on Monday bet against Lazio  in their home game v Fiorentina.

In the latter a ‘goal’ (a very well-taken one) by the Violas’ Arthur was chalked off. The away side became dispirited in a game they dominated and eventually lost 1—0 , Pargie missing out again.

His stake is never more than £20, but there are high rollers out there who would not be so acquiescent to results affected by TMO or VAR.

Some would doubtless argue who wants to go back to an age of awful stadia, hooliganism, misogyny and racist chanting but – as is often the case in the modern world – the end product does not really suit the loyal supporter.

So the answer to my original question is ‘No’.