Roger Alton/fan power
One of my favourite sporting columns is that of Roger Alton, the former editor of The Observer, in The Spectator. The Spectator has long had a sporting contribution from the more cerebral enthusiast whose view counters the popular grain.
Below are Roger Alton’s comments in this week’s edition on the state of the big clubs which is so relevant in the immediate issue of fan power and so-called estrangement. :
“The idea that clubs such as City, Spurs, Arsenal , Chelsea and the rest of the “ Shameful Six” are friendly neighbourhood outfits where you could run into Chopper Harris down the pub has long gone. These are huge international businesses run by Arab rulers, Russian billionaires and US Hedge funds …“
The BBC sought to justify what was a criminal but successful attempt to dispute a scheduled match between those two great rivals Manchester United and Liverpool.
As Roger Alton argues, the notion that fans actually matter to the big clubs is fanciful.
