Football is the most popular sport in the world, and is played and watched by more people now than at any time in the past - so how could it possibly be broken?
Well, whether it's Saudi Arabia offering €1 billion for a season of Kylian Mbappé or the same teams winning the same trophies season-upon-season, there is a sense in which football has lost its magic, and the situation is only getting worse.
So in this video, HITC Sevens takes a look at whether football really is broken, who broke it, and what happens next.
My grandad was a good footballer in the 1940's, post war, he was offered a contract with both West Ham and Crystal Palace, but turned them down to work as a boiler engineer at the local hospital as it paid double the money and he had a young family to support.
Not a dissimilar story here. My grandad was an excellent non-league footballer and when he returned from WW2 he was actually scouted and approached by Aston Villa. By the time the war was over though he was already 27 and with these 'advancing years' Villa's interest did cool a little, but he was still offered a contract. - He never signed for them, but I don't think he cared since it's not as if he'd have earnt more playing for Villa than he was at the Dunlop as a foreman. Plus he was a baggie supporter which didn't really offer much incentive to him :D
@@PigeonPlucker a completely different world.
Very common story, my ex wife’s grandfather turned down Spurs Portsmouth and Bristol City after the war to work in the Clark’s shoe factory in Street.
Good man
Hearing your stories and Jaimie Vardy's. I feel that this should be a valid approach.
I hate what football has become. I've seen first hand how money changes everything. I'm a Brighton fan, so I've seen us rise through the leagues, and when I first started supporting them back in the mid-90's, we were in League 2 (Division 3 at the time), our stadium was crumbling, we were broke and we were crap.....and I bloody loved it. We might as well have been a non-league team, but it was fun. I could wake up on Saturday morning, decide on a whim that I wanted top go to the football that day, and I could get into the ground, buy a programme, get some food and a couple of hot drinks, all for £5..and you'd still come home with change! That's literally unthinkable now! People think I'm talking rubbish when I say that these days, but it's true! Now. I literally can't afford to watch Brighton! I can't afford Sky TV, and I certainly can't afford to go to games. Even if I could afford to go to a game, I'd have to book it _weeks_ in advance online, and then there's a 'loyalty points' system that bars me from going to bigger games unless I've attended like 60% of games leading up to it.....I just don't the money for it! I am proud of where Brighton are now and how good we are, it's truly incredible to see, but I don't feel anywhere near the same connection to the team I used to. I don't really recognize the club anymore. The fact that we're holding out for £100million to sell one of our players is absurd to me! I remember when we signed Colin Kazim-Richards for £250,000, and we were only able to pay that much because one of our fans won a Coca-Cola competition for us to sign a player, and we all thought _that_ was crazy money back then! I still follow Brighton, but if I want to watch them, I have to use dodgy illegal streaming sites to do so now. If I actually want to go to a game in person? I go to local non-league games instead.Much cheaper, and you feel far more connected to everything.
Brighton should not be a selling club after probably their best season ever. Selling your best players after securing a maiden European berth by merit should never be allowed.
@@toskiemail1371That would be a good way of thinking about things were they not earning more money and a higher profit on a single (very replaceable) player than the club has ever made in their history.
@@toskiemail1371the players them self want to leave. Can’t blame the supplier if the purchaser is willing to buy
Its called soccer now
I feel your pain. I miss them days 😢
One of the reasons I like Conference League the most out of the European competitions. Feel a lot more of that football soul in that competitions. Teams from smaller countries, even my own country Norway actually have a chance to achieve something there. No of those clubs with the Arabian blood money to find in thst competition, so it feels more fresh, more clean and more competitive. Champions league in comparison just feel so damn soulless these days...
I totally agree! I've preferred to watch the Europa League for at least the past 10 years as I felt that there was a better balance of competition! There are more teams that have similar budgets, and the Conference League is the same!
True. Add to the fact fans of bigger teams will mock said teams for being “mickey mouse” whilst saying money ruins football. Ironic
You're lying and coping. The conference league has been won by clubs from the big leagues
Got into it because I know a guy who played for one of the teams in the competition, some fun matches came out of that
Id be lying if i said that the champions league didnt still have that pull for me. But u absolutely have a point there, ill for sure be paying more attention to the conference league from now on.
Sports used to be the realm of the working class Now it’s the realm of the upper class Everyone asks why passion has gone down at stadiums all over the world and across sports and that is why
Oh boo hoo, go cry a class warfare river! The sport is better off leaving all that left wing BS in the trash heap of history where it belongs. The sport, and society, are progressing with or without you.
money money money,
Facts
😈😈😈😈👿😈 this royals sheiks billionaires hv put there dirty hands in ⚽
In short, yes. The sport is now a game of finances. Whoever has the most money wins. Some will call the imbalance of investment a “golden age”, whilst others will see that it has in fact destroyed the very heart of the game
The fans of wealthy teams vs the fans of "poor" teams. I don't believe the wealthy teams should be the loudest voices, quite the opposite actually.
Two words: salary cap. It's what makes competition great in the NFL, NHL, and NBA. I just don't know how compatible it is with European Football culture.
@@br8745 what would happen the money the club saves on wages? cheaper ticket maybe? better facilities at the stadium
@@br8745 I think a revenue cap makes more sense but would never happen. Maybe a usable revenue cap. All salary caps will do is cement the current ranking of leagues. Also, salary caps don't make US pro sports more competitive, revenue sharing and a draft of new talent do much more for the NFL and NBA than salary caps do.
Football has always been about who has the most money and who can spend more, are people really pretending like that isn't the case?
The disconnect between attendance and revenue is the problem. The big teams of smaller nations were always able to complete in Europe. It hit the Scottish, Hungarian and romanian teams first but now it's damaging Spain and Italy. We need a redistribution that helps every European nation not just the big teams
Couldn’t of said it any better. 👍
I can only speak as a man in late middle age watching football for 40 years. Money has ruined the game. It started first in the early 80s when Liverpool and United wanted to stop sharing gate receipts with lower league clubs. Chairman then were not allowed by the FA to own more than 15% of the shares of the club- this was relaxed in the mid 80s- Tottenham then United were the first clubs to become PLC and the open to predatory ownership by foreign owners once the FA relaxed the ownership rules. Then came the Premiership- largely driven by Martin Edwards of United and David Dein of Arsenal and Alan Sugar of Tottenham. Ironically Ken Bates of Chelsea and Kevin Swales of City were against it initially being owners of then yo -you clubs. This allowed the top clubs to keep a much larger slice of the cake and throw crumbs to the rest of the football pyramid. The rest of history.
Now even teams from relatively big countries like France, Italy and Germany can't compete on the market.
In Spain and Italy tv income is not distributed equally between clubs as it is in the PL. The result? Every game in the PL is a contest which in turn attracts a global audience and the wealth of the PL. Those complaining about the dominance of the PL, who did not complain when Spanish and Italian clubs were dominant, have the solution in their own hands. Are they interested in making the right changes? No. They prefer to whine and try to destroy competition.
A more realistic solution would be European Clubs outside the PL getting State Funding to better compete with the PL Clubs & PSG.
This is why I've started to prefer international football over club football. Although cases like Diego Costa exist, for the most part, players play and stay loyal to the flag rather than be mercenaries. Although the World Cup is dominated by its previous winners, the stories of teams like Morocco is the reason why it will have more heart and drama compared to the soulless cashgrab that elite club football is becoming.
Got a point tbh
With the exception of my local amateur club, I’ll take international soccer any day over club!!
I agree. I hate when people talk badly about international football even though it’s mostly from people who haven’t broadened their horizons
Yep. There's also something exciting about watching a team try and find an identity just working with what they've got. I loved Scotland finding a way to play two left backs and actually becoming decent at it
Even then, the world cup in Petrostate (I could say something more vulgar, but I'll refrain), Qatar felt bought, scripted, and overall hollow. It felt as if the story was bought and written to try and script a Messi vs Ronaldo final, until actual football derailed that-- or was that derailment by Morocco also scripted?
As I was growing up, watching the Champions League for free on ITV was what got me hooked on watching football. I was able to afford a season ticket to watch my team Hull City, where I got to experience the highs of promotions and underdog FA Cup final appearances but also the lows of football in the shape of relegation. It all showcased the beauty of the sport and is a large part of the reason it is my passion and first love. I genuinely fear for the state of football and I have no idea how i will be able to get my children to really fall in love with it also. Where I live now, going to watch a live match is out of the question because of the prices. I don't subscribe to any of the TV broadcasters because it no longer interests me to pay that much for what I get (and what I have time to watch). It's really a shame what has happened to our sport.
Yeah that’s what made champ league nights special. Watching Man Utd come back in that final on itv prime example but just the group games too. Now too many europe comps and too many teams in Europe and I need bt to watch it 😂
Soul destroying stuff. Your kids will miss out on a sense of locality and history. Hull certainly has a rich history which will not be continued. I think it’s possible that future supporters will ghost the game due to increasing financial distress. The only ones watching it will be those who can sit in privileged VIP surroundings or the next worse thing, £1000 a year Sky subscription.
Alfie, you're an absolute legend. You deeply care about justice, and you deeply care about football. You talking about both of these things consitently makes you the best creator of football content on this platform. Since watching your videos, football has become even more interesting to me. Keep it up, who knows, maybe things will change for the better.
Top comment, good seing credit attributed to the fantástic the work Alfie present us
He’s a saint
Absolutely on point
Football ain’t broken 😂😂
Because, just like the rest of the corporate world, UEFA are finding ever more ridiculous ways to squeeze that extra penny out of football..
Being a brazilian is kind of a honor watching the Brasileirão because every new season there's way to predict the top 10 but never the winner, and sometimes the winner ain't from the top 10 even, like this current season with Botafogo that if it loses momentum it will be caught up by Grêmio who just came from the Série B, and as I'm writing this comment is in second place on the table. And I think, how the brazilian league can be so competitive, if money and logic where concerned Flamengo, Corinthians and Palmeiras would hot potato the title season in, season out, but that's not the case. Usually when a team from a high level wins the title usually it's attributed to its technical level, and they would peter out in the following season or half its players would go to Europe, losing their winning squad. And the only thing that comes to my mind to why the Brazilian league is so unpredictable is that the rich teams aren't rich enough to buy everything and everyone, the league top goal scorer came from the Liga Portugal in a reasonably cheap transfer, Fluminense and Grêmio has Champions League winners on their rankings and still losing to Botafogo with zero. I'm trying to come with a reason why the brazilian league still competitive as it is and I can't figure it out now, so that's my best guess. The climate and the travels also play a role, I guess, if someone has some idea share it, but still, I think it can't be replicated on European solo.
Fully agree. I follow the Brazilian league with keen interest. As a Belgian, there's a weird similarity although the Brasileirao is even more competitive.
As you said, the top Brazilian talent is constantly signed by clubs in Europe. That must prevent any club in Brazil from building a dynasty.
I live in Canada and prefer the Brasileirão to any other league in the world. It is by far the most competitive and exciting league I have ever seen. The fans are some of the most passionate out there and the games are full of pace and skill.
Argento here, I dont watch the brasileirao but it still is the best ligue in América and can be the most unpredictable in the world.
climate and travel like you said being some of the many factors on the unpredictability,but also the key/star players are constantly being poached by european teams did not allow a sustainable continuity that is needed for a club or clubs to assert their dominance for a prolong period of time to establish some sort of dynasty of their own.
It's never felt so soulless
Explain what you mean by that.....
@@Brandon-nq7ysyou either feel it or you don't
@@Brandon-nq7ysIsn't it obvious?
@@arminxvs3372isn't that obvious
@@Stefanhaukur1998 That is obvious as well ^^
It's not just football, buddy... 😢😭
I'm a yeovil town fan and our new owner seems to have us going in the right direction after many dark years, but I worry for several clubs at a similar level, Southend for example could end up like Bury without a buyer coming forward in a very short amount of time, sad to see, as they've been a rival of our for various years and you never like to see a club die because of terrible ownership.
It is astonishing to think that, 10 years ago, Yeovil beat Brentford in the league 1 play off final to reach the championship for the first time. A decade later, Brentford are a stable premier league club with a new stadium and vibrant academy system. Yeovil, meanwhile, have dropped all the way down to the sixth tier. It just goes to show how rapidly things can change in football and how the differences in ownership can make such a big difference in a club's fortune. Hopefully they can start to rise again soon as Yeovil is a great traditional old school club which should be so much higher than their current status.
@@parker-ii7fg fucking blew my mind lmao
@@parker-ii7fg as someone who was at that game and has been with yeovil through the glory years, it's still a bit of a sore point now being at what is basically semi-pro level. But our new owner has done the simple things right, for example we've got brand new dugouts and the whole stadium has been given a spruce up, it and we as a club look completely revitalised, so hopes are high for this season.
Your owner is a complete nob head though. If he could stop threatening other owners over social media that would be really good.
Southend has gone way under the radar. Still remember the 1-0 against Man U ... now facing oblivion. Anyone thinks their club's owner is bad, take a look at Ron Martin...
Glad that Alfie spent a good portion of the video discussing how Saudi Arabia, despite being perceived as having limitless funds, is in a VERY precarious economic and political position right now. RealLifeLore also did a great video on the topic recently that is well worth checking out. It's sad that football's "demise" in the eyes of many fans is directly related to multiple despotic regimes desperately trying to remain relevant on the world stage.
Making your entire economy orbit around a non-renewable highly price volatile natural resource is really a shortsighted way to run a nation
Idk about great per say. It has been highly criticised
I had a look on the Saudi sub and they made some quite good points about it
Right? All this money is coming from the state. If this doesn't pay off it'll be a big financial loss. I often wonder what the Saudi people think about having billions worth state funds being pumped into football clubs when they could go toward the people
@gothicgolem2947 what did they have to say about it. I'm generally curious because I obviously have a biased western perspective of Saudi Arabia. I think their government is extremely immoral but I wonder what the people's perception is
"It has become impossible for anyone except maybe 11 clubs in the whole of world football to keep hold of anyone with any star power for more than a couple of seasons..." A big chunk of truth right there. But it's even worse right now. All the way through the 90s, a club at the top of a small league, with good prospection and player development, could remain competitive internationally, like Porto or Ajax, but now it's the same 6 every time at the CL. It's boring. And as a player, if you can't make it at those clubs, you can't make it.
The last few years have sapped the joy out of football. It is high time FIFA underwent an overhaul and actually began overseeing the sport. Eventually fans will move on to other sports. Being honest, I watched more Ice Hockey live than football last year and by a long long way
For that to happen, someone has to oversee FIFA - and any other governing body of international sport. What goes on in FIFA also happens the IHF (handball), FIDE (chess), the IOC, etc. Above these organizations is only the sky, and they act accordingly
Football, going way back in time, was played by the local boys you'd come across in the local streets. They cared about where they came from and, hence, the club for which they played. Nowadays, you might get a handful of players grown locally across a few clubs, but there is no local connection. It's just a reshuffle of international players at every transfer window, and if you're lucky, you'll get the right combination and dominate the football league. Also, the sport is no longer about the love of the sport or club, but money. Whether you support Liverpool, Man U, Man City or any other top flight club, where's the difference? This is why I am now only interested in international games (the Euros and World Cup). Not only this, but the saturation of football on TV has made it less interesting. Therefore, watching an international competition every 2 years is enough.
Glad I’m not alone in this!
On the MLS ticket price increase topic, a friend who works for my local MLS team said they got so many calls asking about tickets for the Inter Miami game for next season that there was a 30 minute hold and he recommended buying a full season ticket package over buying a single game ticket
That's what you want as a club
@@jacquesmalan5950 I completely agree that they want more season ticket holders but any tickets sold for over face value is gained by third party re-sellers. Plus the tickets I was offered are the same price as the tickets for the current season
While US sport leagues don't have promotion and relegation, they do have a level of parity lacking in world club football. Only seven clubs have won the Premier League: over the same amount of time, 15 NFL teams, 16 MLB teams, 13 NBA teams, and 16 NHL teams have won the title in their respective leagues. A lot of that is to do with the amateur draft held by all of those leagues, which gives last place teams an advantage in future seasons. US sport has its own problems--teams moving to a different city if they don't get cushy stadium deals leaps instantly to mind--but concentrating titles in a handful of teams is not one of them.
I'm from Australia and our sporting leagues are franchises like in the US. and in the NRL i think every club has won the comp besides a couple
There’s no college sports in Europe though. All young talents are already in the clubs.
Great video Alfie. Im Eastern European so Thanks for mentioning the Eastern European club success and how hard it is for them to compete now. Back in those days it was really based on local talent for Steaua Bucuresti and Red Star Belgrade. Me and my dad talk about this conundrum where alot of those clubs have to sell their best players to even stay financially solvent to remain in the top flights and the battle now is to just even qualify for the group stages of European competitions let alone win it all.
I started being interested in the English game around 2002 after getting into the sport from watching the success of the USA (my country) in the 2002 world cup. I bought the PS2 game Winning Eleven (PES in Europe) which is how I came to know the Premier league teams and players. It was near impossible to watch any English matches until ESPN plus had one or two replays midweek which I had to record whilst I was at work. I loved the atmosphere of the games and the play, totally drew me in. Liked the pyramid league system which brings consequences which our pro sports have none of. To the point now. Over the last 15 years I have been less and less interested in the PL because it has lost luster for me. You do not have those hometown heroes anymore (rarely). No one stays with a club for their whole career or most for it even. Young players are not given chances and loaned out for 5 years until sold off. I quit paying to watch PL years ago and have switched to watching and supporting the EFL leagues. Much more interesting I feel. It is hard to get broadcasts in the US though so I watch what I can. P.S. Supported Newcastle since the Shearer days and have now gave up on that. Did not care for Ashley but the new crew running things, not for me. All I have to say is be careful what you wish for.
I used to be in love with football when the "flair" era was at it's peak and i think the problem is that when you are young you see it all with inocent eyes but as you grow you realize it smells rotten
Football is broken. The game has become too big and too much of an industry. I genuinely see no future for football and wish I was born in a different era
If you are noticing that in Europe imagine what is going on in South America. Our leagues have been torn into pieces. It is very very rare at a good player still playing here at the age of 20. When Brazil won the world cup in 2002, half the squad, including some startes, were playing in Brazil. Now they are all playing abroad...
If you are not a big 5 european league fan. You know the answer to this question is a resounding yes. It has been broken for many years now.
big 5? the french league isn't competitive. italian and german not much better. spain has 3 competitive teams. if the rest of europe doesn't do something about it, it's soon a big 1, that is england
What bothers me is when pundits are saying that saudi is the problem. Obviously I am repulsed by players going to the country because of what they stand for, however, what they are doing right now is EXACTLY what the PL has done to the rest of europe the last decade or so. I am from Sweden where we have a rule that makes sure that the fans have to own at least 51% of the club, so we always have the last say. I think this is the reason why our league is such a huge thing in sweden, for example us fans have decided to not have VAR even though the football-politicians are pushing really hard for it. We dont have the problem of feeling disconnected from our clubs, which I think many people from the bigger leagues do.
Western dualism at its finest
Well i'd rather watch any PL game than your shitty swedish league
It’s not the same thing
I agree with you 100%, but what exactly is the problem with VAR?
I feel like it's hypocritically for Europe to criticize the Saudi's. Players don't leave their homes to Europe for competition, they go for money. If the Brazilian talent stayed in Brazil, then Brazil would be competitive but not paying. Right now Africa and South America have talent fight due to money. Now the Saudis are doing the same to Europe.
Their kingdom bought the league and a European cup to buy a World Cup.
Honestly, Europeans are in no position to complain about Saudi
@@bababababababa6124 how are we not?
@@glennb6020because you have been poaching players from every corner of the planet for decades. So don’t cry when Saudi does it to you
@@bababababababa6124 I don’t care about them taking Ronaldo, I have an issue with a sovereign wealth fund, owning an entire league and using that to back its investments in Europe. Like Chelsea and Newcastle. Nations should not own football clubs, there needs to be stricter limits on owners. Stop putting your own crying grievances in peoples mouths
Salary caps (with some exclusions for a couple of star players) seem to work really well in USA / Canadian sports, making it more exciting to watch because it's much easier for any team to have a great season. Also means that organizations are more financially healthy / responsible
exactly. I started watching and following MLS 3 years ago and I LOVE it. I like the games, the unpredictable seasons and the fact that you cant have more then 3 designated players outside the salary cap. Its not perfect, but its so much better than what we are doing in Europe currently
Only if we apply a salary cap to CEOs and other high earners.
If you did that you would end up with rogue leagues offering big money, unless governments stepped in
Capping the players salaries is not the answer mate. That just means chairmen and board members will be rewarded for the talent and work of the players. Home grown teams with home grown players is the only way to solve the issue.
@@John-gx2ry I’m not sure I understand, how does that solve the issue of ever-increasing wages? MLS has rules to limit foreign players and a salary cap, so isn’t it already what you’re describing with the added benefit of increased parity among teams in the league?
Meanwhile in Belgium, we've had five different champions over the past 10 years and we're going into the season with 6 contenders for the title. It's an anomaly for sure but I'm at a loss why that is so, especially since we're doing better than ever in Europe. Could you figure out why our competition is so uncomparatively competitive?
How are Belgian clubs financed? Some of them are owned by the same football groups as Man City or Brighton. Studying UEFA:s annual benchmarking reports one can also see that the Belgian league has almost a third of the clubs' revenues from the 'Other' category which is higher than most comparable leagues (UEFA group revenue into Domestic TV, UEFA, Gate, Commercial and 'Other'). I've always found the Belgian league fascinating with its weird league format and how their clubs maneuver the transfer market. My guess is that they are funded mainly by owners or the state/municipalities, is that correct? If so, couldn't the competitiveness be explained by lack of consistent investment (impatient owners or owner changes) or that these stakeholders want return on investment asap through player sales rather than building squads for several seasons?
Because every team which becomes good will lose their best players and rebuild takes time.
I think it's a shame the Dutch-Belgian league merger, or "Bene Liga", looks unlikely to happen. Cross-border solutions are the only solution to level the playing field. You can't expect the top clubs to become more charitable; the smaller leagues need to combine to create bigger markets which entice people to watch them more.
Easy, It's more of a development league for other Euro leagues to pick off talent.
Not only football, almost all sports are broken also
Eh I say football has it worse when it comes to providing a balanced and fair competition with the enormous spending fees teams are given
Unbelievable mate - as always your videos never cease to encourage critical thought and deep reflection about the game we all love, even if the format or content doesn’t pander to the KZhead football mainstream. We truly are blessed to have you!
Consistently the best football videos on the web. Thank you for all the great work over the years!
The FFP rules are supposed to even out the odds of success, the way those rules have been abandoned by UEFA is the root cause of football's malaise. If the PL follow through and take away ManC titles and kick them out for their many breaches of the FFP rules, that is the simplest way to bring back the excitement. Lastly, I would argue that Huddersfield are still a power in football, we are just taking a breather to give the others chance to catch up.
Still being punished for voting against Scudamore's Premier League "golden handshake", hence the baffling VAR calls in last year's Play Off final
I thought the FFP was more brought so that clubs don't spend above their means? Plus, I think it just makes it easier for the clubs who already have the best and most valuable players, since the smaller clubs can't get a rich owner and outspend them, at least not easily
So kicking City out just because they're too good?😂 FFP was originally brought in so it could stifle competition. Why blame City for other teams like United, Chelsea etc dropping off?
@@maciejbala477FFP was introduced so it could stifle any competition to the already established clubs
FFP was brought in so that the big, established clubs could not be challenged. They wanted to entrench their positions. They essentially wanted the kind of perennial dominance that Bayern enjoy in Germany. In fact, Bayern were, unsurprisingly, among the most vocal proponents of FFP.
Football, at least in Europe, began to be broken in the late 80’s since it was decided that the western leagues got way more entries in the European Cups - and more money than the east. Steaua Bucharest won the UCL and made it to one more final in ‘89 and Red Star Belgrade won it shortly after. In the space of about 10 years or less teams from the east became basically irrelevant! And will remain so forever, because the game is rigged - at least financially- to benefit the big clubs from the major leagues and with them - but in less regard - the smaller ones.. Ever since I realized this I don’t watch football anymore, except the World Cup and maybe a UCL final if I am bored. It is simply put, corruption. Now teams from eastern leagues barely get to play in the first preliminary round of the UCL - and only the champions from their league gets to that, if that. And this will never be recovered, they are so far ahead by now it is impossible. It has been impossible from the start, hence the game is rigged. I am tired of spending my precious time seeing the same teams every year and quite frankly prefer to spend it in any other manner, though I like football. I do watch football videos though
I have hope for football. Like Alfie said, I still see big matches, goals, big surprises in results, fairytales, etc... but this is becoming rarer to see because football is trying to end that. There's simply too many problems. -social media is breaking football. While the game is becoming more and more accessible and worldwider than it ever was, you have fans in a tip of the globe rooting for a team that they never saw live, while their city's teams have some of the lowest attendance and fans in the world. Some fans argue for a player or a team that doesn't connect to them to any extent; -the money problem is obvious, but the Premier League had a nice plan to increase revenue since the early 90's. It was only when big magnates started coming in that clubs like Chelsea and City started winning it all. That created fair weather fanbases and spending sprees that broke the culture. I barely recognize the working class that Newcastle was known for... -you have more and more professional football players that don't like football and play for the money. What If I said to you Carlos Tevez doesn't like football? Or Neymar? Or Lukaku? That your favourite player doesn't love what you spend a lifetime being eager to play at their level, isn't it? -clubs are becoming more and more independent from their fanbases. Owners and presidents don't care about fans, they barely bring any revenue! Players don't see the importance of signing a new contract for the fans. They don't connect to them. It's akward and sad. From the rainy nights at Stoke to the bourguoiserie of Parc De Princes, the football world will implode and enter a crisis with so much money coming in. And I don't know if I can't wait for that to happen, or I'm so afraid that'll happen
Also the stat and science based approach big teams are taking to minimize any negative results - rather than a human or tactical approach as before
@@Armaan8014 You're right, but that compells football itself. Football and how it's played is constantly evolving and that is beautiful to see... New ideas and strategies. But I agree with you, football is becoming slower because risk is being minimized while there's so much money involved
Football has never been so great. At least, in term of quality of play. While I love the Bosman rule because it gave power to players, it killed the parity inside local leagues because revenues have sky rocketed like never before. One fucked up thing which really angers me is the crimes within football and FIFA protects the culprits.
Bosman Law ruined the Intercontinental Cup/ Clubs World Cup
These people don't care about what is best for or advances the game. They are the type that would rather starve to death in a breadline than have a multitude of cheap food options on offer from private companies. The game, and society, have progressed but it didn't do so in their far left wing way and they can't cope.
I mean, realistically, there needs to be a wage/transfer limit set or this inflation will dilute the market further and further. Unfortunately, a lot of wealthy people are getting even more wealthy from what is supposed to be 'the peoples game'.
the best solution would be to push football clubs into becoming other forms of economic associations than corporations
Salary Caps would only mean that the owners of Football Clubs would get most of the cash rather than the players & coaches themselves. A smarter decision would be laws mandating Free-To-Air Coverage of all Football Games, Bans on Sponsorship and Caps on Ticket Prices. Not saying that's a smart idea or even a workable one. However it's a better option than Salary Caps.
@@MrSmith1984 it really wouldn’t. The best players and coaches would still get the best money. The overall pot of money however would be more evenly distributed.
Yeah but why should the owners and the people at the top get all the money when it's the players and coaches that attracts the fans and make the money. Maybe they have a salary cap and all teams have to put a percentage into lower league teams but then if your a business man that would seem horrendous, they see it as a business. It should be free to watch and much cheaper to go to game's
@@garethelvin6451 What do you mean "it really wouldn't"? Especially when the measures I'm suggesting would reduce salaries without increasing the wealth of club owners. In the words, the only way you can fairly reduce wages...is to reduce the revenue that clubs bring in.
Lee Cattermole photo involved in the opening 60 seconds. That’s when you know the video is gonna be good 😎
Not an MLS Stan but they always have different teams winning the MLS cup every season. Also playoffs are fun…just sayin 🤷♂️
"Saudi Abomination" bruh that's what Premier League is to all other leagues too, players who could well compete in Europa League for a Spanish or a German team, prefer to go to a relegation team in england because they pay more
FACTS
Personally, world football in general needs a wage cap introduced. The loyalty of fans has been abused and strecthed to the max these last few years. Price increases everywhere and are the fans really getting the value anymore?
Thank you for a thoughtful piece as always. I just want to say, it really felt like you're giving up the way you conclude the video. I think with the reach you have, you are in a position to maybe reach someone that might want to make a change. Reiterate the changes you mentioned in your last video I say - the more you bang the drum, the better the chances we change. Let's try and imagine a world less bleak, and maybe we can make it together.
International football is still kind of pure and unpredictable. At least until FIFA allow the Saudi national team to sign Haaland
I agree but Qatar !! FIFA do their best to make the game corrupt when there is absolutely no need to - the unpredictability and any-team-can-win is what makes football great.
Great insightful video as always but worrying too! I will forever love playing the sport, but i have to say i'm getting less and less interested every season watching the same teams buy all the best players and win everything. And how am i supposed to fall in love with a player when if they perform well, they will get offered a higher wage at another club and be straight out the door
I don't comment often but I wanted to tell you that your channel is fascinating. The amount of information that you share is incredible ! Thank you! I wonder how europeans would feel about football adopting a salary cap system like we have in the NHL. It keeps the biggest markets from having access to a much bigger budget and makes the league far more competitive. I love football and I get really excited for the world cup and other international tournaments but I don't watch a lot of club Football because in my opinion the idea that one or 2 clubs completely dominates a league of about 20 teams is ridiculous. What's the point of watching if you almost always know who wis most game ? Just my personal opinion.
As a fellow NHL fan, but from Europe: Would love it, but will never happen. Implementing a system that would fit all of Europe is downright impossible without a proper European league system (and no one wants one) and then there's EU worker's and cartel laws, which would never allow for this limit to a players personal freedom to negotiate the best possible contract for himself. Pity really, I grew up on Bundesliga and European competitions in the 80s and 90s, by the mid-2000s my interest was already reduced to only watch my team and maybe games that influenced our place in the standings. CL got me bored really fast. Forward to 2023 and I have watched like 2 full games in 5 years and not even the EURO or World Cup get me interested much anymore. (well Qatar I would have boycotted anyway) Meanwhile I watched tons of NFL and NHL instead....
@@HDreamer Pity indeed…
Alfie my dawg, an excellent video as always. You stay well spoken and pull no punches. Keep going 🤘🏾
I was listening to some french football expert, can't recall his name ... He made a great case for the multi ownership model now in football is equal or even a greater threat to football as we know it.
Tell me more about this
The element of predictability in major tournaments does affect neutrals' interest as far as I'm concerned. I was so bored out of my mind that RM just kept winning the UCL so many times in the late 2010s that it drove me away from the competition almost altogether, only really recovering interest once they're knocked out. I celebrated Ajax and Man City's wins over them like if my country had won the World Cup or something. Speaking of, I find international team tournaments a lot more appealing since everyone's technically on an equal playing field, relying just on their local talent instead of who they can afford to pay the highest, and one can still get some epic upsets on a regular basis like the ones seen in the latest WC.
nope you just hate madrid
@@davit368Nah, he's got a point
Let the hurt flow through you my guy. Are you enjoying City bamboozling the PL each season also?
San Marino and Brazil are not even close to being on an equal playing field. Brazil has over six thousand times as many people! If the World Cup used a league format instead of a cup format then we'd see huge disparities.
Appreciate the Duncan Watmore feature 👏 Good vid, definitely lost interest in football over the past few years
Salary caps and luxury taxes which would prohibit teams from signing new players if they for instance go over it in consecutive years, would absolutely help. Just look at how the NBA/NFL/MLB remains incredibly competitive while paying these athletes a VERY decent amount while not giving them absolutely ridiculous amounts of money. Hope football can be saved! 🙏🙏
it may be too late to integrate a universal pay cap, in the eyes of fifa and upper bodies that is.
Would be good. But unfortunately the current best teams will do everything to prevent it And not even that, the players would leave to a League without limits. Looking at Saudi Arabia
@@nickyheartwell yeah, if ANY body could enforce it, it would be the likes of FIFA and UEFA. But they're way too busy being bought by the same culprits Alfie is pointing out in this video, unfortunately. I mean, Saudi Arabia is in the running for 2030 world cup if I'm not mistaken and last one was in Qatar? Sigh... 😢
@@MrMurgen I would hope some would prefer playing in an actually slightly more competitive League than in some amateur competition which is housed in a murderess dictatorship, but the last few transfer windows kind of already proved me wrong. 😅
big teams don't want a salary cap as money is the only way for big clubs to stay big.
Football clubs should be representing the talent of the local region. The moment when that stopped being the case is when football broke. Manchester City should be playing with mostly players from the Manchester area. Football governing bodies should force teams to play a certain number of players from the own youth academy or surrounding clubs. Than the product becomes more affordable and frankly more enjoyable.
To be fair even in the 70s it wasn't always people from the local region, it was generally from that country not just the city or the county
Football has been cracked for a while, but it truly broke into pieces the moment Manchester City were lauded to the heavens despite clear evidence they cheated FFP. The moment they turned round and stated their lawyers and resources were more than the Premier League and they were, in essence, untouchable, the whole system collapsed.
A more accurate point of when football began to "break" was when Silvio Berlusconi bought (& heavily invested in) AC Milan and successfully pushed for the creation of Champions League. The rest they say is history...
I actually think it began with the big club dominance and success of Manchester United initially that gave foreign investors the excuse and motivation to go all out to see football as nothing more than a cash cow which caused the cascading domino effect we see today. PSG and Man City emerged as a result and more like Newcastle will continue too sadly
@@SuperRavensfan101 Manchester United under Martin Edwards & Peter Keyon have a lot to answer for when it came to the Commercialisation of Football. Alongside encouraging both Abramovich to buy Chelsea & Abu Dhabi to buy Manchester City as well.
If City were obviously guilty why was their appeal accepted by an independent panel? What do you evwn mean by the whole system collapsing? Care to elaborate? Just because you're obviously incredibly bitter about City doesn't mean their the cause of the current state of football😂😂
@@Brandon-nq7ys Honestly, the evidence does indeed show that City did indeed use underhand tatics to get around FFP. It's just that UEFA left it too late to get away with punishing them. Still, what Abu Dhabi has to do was entirely justified, especially when one considers FFP to be Anti-Competitive & flawed to start with.
Its funny seeing people complain about the recent Saudi Arabia moves and stealing players with money..... when the EPL is the one who started that trend since it was form back in the 90s..... epl is not "the best" league like many claim it was just the league that paid the most
Hey Alfie do you think football leagues should enforce salary caps?
The money in the game has transformed it overall. We cannot nor should go back to the 1950's. However, state-owned clubs, greedy owners, select teams monopolizing their league's finances, and the lack of distribution of the wealth generated is destroying the game. Not to mention the FA's and FIFA not only looking the other way, but actively supporting all of this.
Back in 2009, a while after Man City became a unlimited fund football club they placed a bid to hire Kaká with an outrageous sum, people started crying "ah football is dead, now is only money". Backlash was high and Milan politely rejected, instead making a deal with Real Madrid. Today you go to the mall and you see most of kids and teens wearing Man City and PSG jerseys instead of brazilian local clubs. This stuff kinda normalized meanwhile, many academy and youth players already regarded as the next big thing generally don't even bother to reach a higher level because they already have the money and the lavish lifestyle, why wake up early for training if you can party the whole night and be young forever?
my grandad played for Accrington and gillingham in the 60s, was on £2 a week.
You speak my mind exactly! Fantastic (no-nonsense) content and humourous delivery! You've almost inspired me to also support Hull!
noticed the new thumbnail style, looks good. im proud of you alfie 👍
Great video I thought you may mention international football as well; given that, in theory, it's one of the last remnants of truly meritocratic competition left. However, it feels as though money is now spreading its corrupting influence across national teams too...with the "bigger" nations reaping the benefits of rich clubs' academies that produce a conveyor of top level talent. To some it may seem as though England's recent improvement at international level is some sort of throwback...in reality, it's just a consequence of having the richest league in the world invest in local talent.
So basically it just compounds each success, or relies on sheer cashflow to succeed. The best get better, while the rest get worse due to lack of competition with top clubs for top players and facilities
Hey Alfie! Have you thought about putting your Videos on spotify as a podcast? I would love to be able to listen to them when in not home! Thanks for your quality content!
Great video as usual, Alfie. Cheers!
As you mentioned here that the second Bundesliga has more former winners than the first, could you do a video on the best 2nd divisions of maybe this century? Championship with 2 European cup winners, Juve in Seria B, etc? Not sure if things like Rangers coming back up would be included or not
I think football shifting from developing a cultural product towards building a loss making juggernaut as an asset sums up the journey of how business in general has changed since the Victorian era in which organised association football has its roots. Some teams still have to play by traditional rules, while others in the same competitions are built in to being bigger than the sport.
Alfie you should really podcast I love listening to you talk about football!
Alfie on the money as always !!!!!!!...............all of this is the reason I am delighted my club Benfica can not be "owned" by anyone but it's members.......yes it is always a struggle against the filthy rich BUT hey we have reached the CL quarters the last two seasons.................what broke football was the G14 changing everything, and the "price of everything and the value of nothing" governing bodies !!! ........here in Portugal it is a struggle BUT we do get bye !!
The lure of big money has led to the increasing demise of players who would spend their entire career with one team. Contracts really do not mean a player will be at a club for the length of the contract, but only serve to identify the amount of money it will cost another team to lure them away. Of course, agents have a big part to play in this as their income is based upon a percentage of the contract value. They have a vested interest in keeping the players jumping around for higher and higher salaries. I really cannot blame the players, but it is a bit disheartening.
The german league with almost no foreign ownership is moat predictable. Bayern has won 20 out of 23 titles this century.😂
Maybe 18 or 19. Not 20 😂
True lol
Probably because Bayern get most of the TV money
Great, great video! Thank you. I've been a huge football fan my whole life, but I'm now noticing that I often don't enjoy watching it. I'll probably stop watching it soon, precisely because of this issue. It's not fun anymore.
Well friends, if you think European club football lacks competitiveness you should definitely start watching the Brazilian Serie A right now. - Among the 20 clubs fighting for the first division title, at least 12 of them are considered big. Most games are really balanced and often the 20th can beat the league leader (that's actually a common thing in Brazil). - Most clubs in Brazil are ruled by complete morons who make nonsensical decisions and often mess up real hard so having a bunch of stars in your squad usually doesn't mean winning titles all the time. - Things change fast so a team that's fighting for the league title this season can be on a survival battle against relegation the next season. That's what happened to Fluminense in 2012 and 2013. Won the league in 12, relegated in 13. But they actually didn't play the second division because another team played some dude irregularly for 10 minutes in the last matchday losing a few points and saving Fluminense. - We're always changing managers. All the time. Because they lost 3 games. So most teams don't really have a playing style that lasts long enough to be noticed. - The calendar is ridiculous with some teams playing 75-80 games a year due to state championships cramping the rest of the season in a sunday-wednesday-sunday free for all where everything is possible. To add insult to injury, Brazil is HUGE. So in addition to playing all the time, teams are traveling REALLY FAR to play those games. - Currently, Botafogo is leading the league in an all time recordist campaign. Even though Botafogo is considered one of the "12 great" clubs, they were just playing the second division two years ago and have only the 10th most valuable squad of the league. Atlético Mineiro (3rd most valuable) is in the 13th position. Botafogo leads with a TWELVE points advantage right now (Matchday 17/38). - Clubs being owned by stakeholders is something relatively recent in Brazil and only a few of them have already been sold. Most are still simple associations run by elected counselors that are, in most cases, nowehere near professionals. - The level of play is not that great if you're used to the Premier League and the UCL. But the crowds are incredible and unexpected stuff happens all the time. - It's better than Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (Bayern and PSG aside).
Exactly , Brazilian football is crazy . You can't event Judge player talent by their Division . Imagine on earth Gabriel martinelli in Serie D , Eder martins in Serie C , Hulk in Campeonato regional .
My biggest take away form this is that it's very easy to point at the Saudi league and shout "you're ruining football", but we haven't already done this to ourselves with Sky etc.
Moving to Norway and supporting Norwegian football made me enjoy the game again. Everyone's shit, and anything can happen.
And the 5 Substitute Rule means the Big Clubs need even more Star Talent to fill the bench. So its even harder for other teams to sign good players and compete.
You have the best videos of anyone on the internet, thank you so much.😊
Football is screwed, been sliding into obscurity since 2008 specifically, the Sheikh Mansour City take over, the humongous transfer fee records broken by Real for their new Galacticus, the Russian Anzhi project, the Chinese league attempt to buy players off Europe to promote their league Ending with what we have now, a Newcastle copying PSG which copied Man City which copied Chelsea, The Saudi voracious attempt to promote their league, Barca copying old Real mistakes in the transfer market causing them financial strain
The first step to destroy football was making UCL, just so rich clubs could keep being rich by constantly playing each other and generating income. It worked, so it started developing further.
u mean changing the format of the ucl
@@alexandervargas79 I mean when UCL was made in 1992. Before it was called European Cup that and only champions of national leagues played each other. UCL was made because of greed for more money. It effectively killed smaller teams chance for European succes.
Lmao I could definitely hear you seething through the second half of that video. Great video!
Much of this is nostalgia though. Football was never about the fans and always about money. The only difference is that with TV and advertisers fans aren’t as important to generate revenue anymore.
Some say it was broken when the first £1m player was signed. Some say it was the formation of the Premier League 🤷🏾♂️
TBH i think this is an European Football issue. Just take a look at some solid leagues from the Americas: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, USA. It is very difficult to predict a Champion and their leagues have a relative good pay and level of play, of course they have their own issues. But inequality and boredome are not among them.
I love the "no interest in the sport" & Man Utd pic. Alfie at his best 👍 Can we please have a video about Maltese Football? Thank you ⚽
Hey Alfie, speaking of this, can you do a video talking about 7 unlikely teams who could have won a champions league by now if the 3 Foreigner rule was still in place?
Well I know Manchester United would of had more!
@@MrThedonheadProbably not , they won only one of their three champions league/cup in the times that rule existed.
Ahhh... the 3 Foreigner Rule. i loved that - every team had a character like Milan had Dutch players, Inter had German players and Spurs had Romanian players (??). Bit late.... but wish we could go back to that.
That's why I got into the Polish ekstraklasa and started to more actively support my local team. It's just more fun.
Yeah I just support my birth team and my new local team now.
With all the attention on Al hilal at the moment, would love to see if you could do a video on one of the greatest underdog stories in Asian football when western Sydney Wanderers, a team only 2 years old beat Al hilal as well as other giant Asian clubs in order to win the 2014 Asian champions league Story includes some crazy events including the team bus getting crashed into before one of the games, hotel room phones getting rung all night and one western Sydney fan becoming one of the few women to attend a live football match in Saudi Arabia
I always wondered if having a couple of really sucessful clubs helps to sell a league overseas (via name recognition) and thus there's a perverse incentive to create or maintain inequality cos that's what brings in the real money
Like the Scottish Premier League? Or La Liga? That has been the approach used by those leagues. People overseas generally only tune in for the big derby matches and maybe watch a few highlights of the other matches on KZhead from time to time.
Wow, that was depressing. But very good. Watched it all the way through, as I do with all of your videos. Even if Saudi poaches every best player on the planet, however, there'll still be the local team, albeit if your local team is Chalvey Sports in the 11th division of the English League Pyramid. And believe it or not, you can still watch real Internationals play there, such as Chris Morgan, who plays for Anguilla. Yes, even though he plays international football for an actual country, he plays in the 11th division of English football. Can you find six more examples of internationals playing at the very bottom of the pyramid? I'm sure you can. Oh, this is request #30 by the way 🙂
As someone who became a Chelsea fan during the years when "Save the Bridge" banners were flying, and there was real fear that the finances of the club would push it to te lower tiers, and when there had not been a top flight title in 4 decades, I agree with every word Alfie said. I've enjoyed the winning, and that 04-06 period was truly unreal in terms of quality (both 12 & 21 wee something very different, obviously). But a team once best embodied by Dennis Wise yelling "Do your job, mate" at his teammates is now best symbolized by a grown up billionaire Dennis the Menace, with a vile oligarch in between. It is my opinion that CFC is losing its core appeal, and I find myself more and more drawn to Union Berlin for more than one reason - all of which have been covered in various HITC Sevens videos.
This dropped at 1AM my time and I'm watching. Thank you!
Great video yet again, but I think your maths at 10:45 was a little off. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is estimated to be worth approx $700 billion, so Walkers net worth would be more like 0.1% of that.
If the MLS continues to grow, we might get some balance. Over there, they've implemented a lot of smart regulations, making the teams more competitive It's a weird league with some play-off system at the end of the season, without relegation a possibility. Actually, the teams that finish last, gets the best picks of the drafts for the upcoming season I know that for myself, at least, I will watch a lot more MLS, especially if football in Europe continues on this slippery slope
Same here. It's been great to watch Messi, Busquets and Jordi Alba playing for Inter Miami.
the opening game of the womens football world cup had so much what mens football once had. Just the pure emotions and the respect the womens showed for each other was awesome to watch
The Women's game will go the same way.
You did it again. Great one.
As a video suggestion, Pardon me if you've ever done this one but what do you think of a potential British super leagues where the top teams from all over the United Kingdom and maybe the rest of the British isles or Ireland would compete against each other? On paper, in my humble opinion it sounds like a good idea. Perhaps once we sit down and look at the detail, it would be terrible.
The MLS will be the slowest rising but the most overall quality national/local league in the long run because of the salary cap and the playoff! May not be the most popular but the ability to just pay to play in all these euro/Middle East leagues will affect the overall quality of the leagues! Also, don’t forget, the MLS is basically apple’s league with the new streaming deal the league just signed aka , everyone with an Apple product iPhone, iPad, macbook, etc has access to some MLS games for free and can pay additional fees to have the entire catalog…. Or people can just get Apple TV on ANY INTERNET CONNECTED DEVICE Android, pC, etc….. Same thing sky sports did for the EPL apple will do for the MLS but at an even larger magnitude because globally, access to the internet > access to satellite tv The ability for clubs to just throw money around will cause a way of players jumping from league to league ! I know this sounds VERY STUPID now but trust me, it’ll be the MLS and the Champions League that’ll have the most CONSISTENT product quality wise because all clubs in the leagues have a LEGIT chance to win EVERY season! This is why a SUPER LEAGUE is inevitable !
I dream of a day when a season starts and we can’t predict who wins any major trophy.
Alfie, you're so good at this. I so appreciate what you do. Please speak with more speed.
nah... he is doing just fine
Excellent video as always!
The biggest problem is "Star" players nowadays are total rubbish. Don't start it with "...but butt Messi and Rondaldo..." those 2 are pretty much retired and Mbappe and Haaland and others would be considered average at best only 10-15 years ago