Harry Kane, ‘B’ teams, and the gut-wrenching £5.136 Billion
Premier League Television deal. Not the sordid title of a rejected Roald Dahl
novel, but three separate entities that can all be included within the discussion of
English football’s longest running soap-opera, the development of homegrown
players. And much like a soap-opera on Christmas Day, a time of the year that
should be lauded and celebrated, we’re faced with a dark gloom and haze as to
what has just gone on and that very English footballing question, “Where do we
go from here?”
According to the FA, the Football League and the Premier
League, one of the various solutions is to introduce Premier League ‘B’ teams
into the already fatiguing Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Quite how a handful of games
a season against sides that more often than not don’t take the competition
particularly seriously until the latter stages will benefit the
development of young English players, I don’t really know. But the FA does, so
why question it? It’s not like we matter, is it? We’re only good for crowd
shots in the latest Barclays or Sky advert anyway. We’re not supporters, we are
the advertisement.
From my own personal perspective it also damages the
integrity of the competition I secretly enjoy. The JPT isn't glamorous, but it’s
one of the very few chances a lower league supporter has of seeing his or her
side get a chance to play at Wembley. You try telling a Walsall supporter who
will see his/her side at Wembley for the first time in the clubs history this month
that it’s a worthless competition and see what response you get. Introducing ‘B’
teams here is the start of a slippery slope, a slope that we already have
minimal footing on as it is. Allowing this to happen without a fight is akin to
digging our own graves. They wanted to introduce ‘B’ teams into our leagues
before, and they’ll want to do it again if they see weakness.
But it’s not just the thought of this that disturbs me and
many other supporters of lower league clubs, but also the lack of consultation
that has surrounded the seemingly sudden implementation of this idea. I'm realistic as a football supporter, I know that I won’t hear the ins and outs of
everything that goes on at my football club or in the wider context of the game
in general, and that’s quite right. But to brush such a fairly big decision
under the carpet, to the point where it has only become apparent as a result of
supporters trust meeting, is utterly despicable. We don’t expect total
transparency as supporters, but we expect honesty when something that we’re
involved in is subject to change despite the fact we have not been consulted.
It’s not just the fact that our opinions have not been heard
in this matter, as the majority don’t want ‘B’ teams anywhere near our
competitions, but also the simple fact none of our number were even aware that
such a vote was taking place at any point. Surely it is the duty of the FA, the
Football League or simply individual clubs to notify supporters that such a
significant issue is being discussed. It’s not about the implementation, it’s about
the principle. It’s a phrase I detest, but in a lot of ways it sums up the way
supporters are treated within English football, with total and utter disdain. I
don’t care about some rubbish McCoy’s promotion, the SkyBet Transfer fund or a
Capital One advert which are systematically churned out nonchalantly by every
club’s standardised official website. I care about what is happening to my game
and ultimately what we as supporters can do to aid the development of English
football. We’re not unapproachable dinosaurs you know; consult us; maybe we’ll
actually have some reasonable suggestions as to how to realistically improve
English football. “We are football”, so we’re told sparingly by the media, so
why not listen to us? The FA has done a fantastic job of corroding English
football, so why not give us a chance?
Quite frankly, your average match-going supporter of a
Premier League side right the way down to the regional combinations is more in
touch with what football really needs than anyone sitting in the ivory towers
at Wembley will ever be. It’s ‘jobs for the boys’, it always has been and it
always will be. None of ‘our kind’ will ever get a say because we don’t fit,
but that’s by-the-by.
Moreover it’s fairly clear so far that we don’t know the ins
and outs of the discussion, but for only one club in League Two to vote against
it (AFC Wimbledon), it suggests something is awry. Given the Premier League’s
previous with EPPP, which Football League clubs were more or less blackmailed
into signing up for, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that there is more than
meets the eye.
Instead of
putting a sledgehammer to lower league supporters, the FA should be embracing a
modern form of the game instead; Futsal. It’s probably escaped the attention of
the majority of football supporters, but England does in fact have a steadily
improving national Futsal team. Buoyed by a crowd in excess of 1400 on Saturday
afternoon, a gate similar to that of a bottom end League Two side, England
defeated Sweden 7-3 at one of London’s premier sporting arenas, the Copperbox.
An affordable, fun and ultimately enjoyable day out for supporters, it also has
the potential to develop the next generation of young English talent.
We’re relatively
new to the Futsal game in this country, having only established a national team
as recently as 2003. In the first five or so years, progress was slow and
tentative, with the lowlight a 24-1 defeat to Portugal in 2004 under manager
Graeme Dell. But under the stewardship of current manager Pete Sturgess, in
place since 2008, England have made good progress, climbing the rankings to 55th
in the world and amassing a total of thirty victories, including a recent run
of six wins on the bounce. Yet despite this, we remain behind countries such as
Uzbekistan, Solomon Islands, Macedonia and Guatemala in the rankings. And
without wishing to disrespect the aforementioned associations, you can’t help
but feel with some emphasis from the FA, a larger degree of funding and a more
wider publicity, Futsal in this country could grow and go on to significantly
aid the development of young English footballers. No-one is suggesting this
could bring radical changes straight away, but if done properly, it has the
potential to be a stepping stone in the progress of our homegrown footballers.
Added to that,
it’s a way of progressing technically, adding something different to the game
that we do not currently have in this country. Football League clubs already
embrace Futsal, so why don’t the Premier League? Could it be something to do
with the ability to import ‘talent’ as a result of a certain TV deal? I think
so. Futsal teaches the art of close control, tight passing and finding gaps in
the play whilst also retaining that frenetic element we all love about
football. It has such fantastic untapped potential if used correctly by the
clubs that have the funds. Let’s face it, it’s not like the Premier League is
strapped for cash at the moment. Instead of wasting £4 million on that
half-rate Spanish forward who scored a handful of goals for Numancia, invest in
the future. Germany did, turns out they’re half decent, bit bloody weird that.
Does anyone
want to see the youngsters of our game play at most eight games a season
against sides in League One or Two? How does it aid their development? Of what
benefit is it to the real clubs in those leagues that are more or less reduced
to friendly encounters? We have a thing that we use already to enable players
to get serious game time amongst professional footballers on a weekly basis, it’s
called the loan system if you didn't know. It’s not perfect, and a lot of the
time players that go out on loan won’t make it to the top level, but that’s the
nature of the beast of football. You only need to look at Harry Kane to witness
the positive effects that it has in association with top level coaching – an issue
which deserves a whole post of its own given the astronomical prices coaching
badges cost in this country. Introducing ‘B’ teams into the JPT won’t change
anything, it just creates the illusion that an effort is being made when in
reality it’s not.
If the FA or
the Premier League wants to make some sort of impression in the lower leagues,
do so by funding Football League academies. Allow a proportion of the TV money
to be given to those that need it, to those that will spend it and cherish it.
You only have to look at Jordan Ibe’s flourishing form to see the effects. He
was a product of Wycombe Wanderers’ academy, an academy that is no longer
running due to lack of funds. What sort of injustice is that; that a club can
produce a player with the quality of Ibe yet be forced to shut down their
academy? The FA or the Premier League should be begging Wycombe to keep their academy
open, but instead it has been allowed to wither and die. It’s a similar
injustice for clubs that fall out of the Football League, whereby their academy
funding is cut. Why? It’s a totally backwards mentality to have when actually
funding these academies could produce the next great England player, or at the
very least a competitive Englishman in the Premier League. The system is
completely flawed from top to bottom.
To be quite honest, this has been nothing more
than a ramble. The ramble of a supporter who is becoming increasingly
disillusioned with a lot of what surrounds football. I don’t think I’ll ever
fall out of love with my club, but in the wider context you so often wonder
what the actual point is. And if you totally disagree with me, ask yourself this,
is what I'm proposing any more barbaric than what the FA are seeking to do?
Keep updated
with @AgainstLeague3.
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Twitter at @NickMurphy1995.
