Former Bolton Wanderers chairman, Phil Gartside, lost his battle with cancer yesterday. During Bolton’s 18 year Premier League tenure, Gartside wanted Celtic and Rangers in the league, as part of a reorganisation which would have seen a second tier Premier League created.
His motivation was the realisation that English football’s model was inherently dysfunctional. Teams like Bolton would over-commit to the player contracts necessary to keep them in the league, but with everyone else doing the same thing, it was only a matter of time before they finished in the bottom three. Less than 3 years since relegation Bolton face a winding-up order this month over a £2.2m debt to HMRC.
‘The Gartside Plan’ for league reorganisation found little support among his Premier League peers. Each passing TV deal poured ever-more money into the Premier League but the model remains dysfunctional. Those relegated regularly face dire consequences – and that’s before the bubble bursts.
As English and Welsh clubs who have dropped out of the Premier League continue to deal with the consequences, Europe’s mega-rich clubs are unhappy with their return from Champions League football. The relative democratisation of Champions League qualification, introduced by Michel Platini, which sees more clubs from smaller countries reach the group stage, is seen as a problem to some of Europe’s richest.
They want games against Manchester United, not Dinamo Zagreb. So do TV companies and sponsors. The football industry in Europe operates a series of EU sanctioned cartels. These sanctioned exceptions were granted on the basis that football is a sport, not a conventional business. The more top clubs act like businesses, not sporting institutions, the more reason to tear down the walls of these carters.
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The very thought of letting fans in for nothing.
Would be too much for some.
I could think of a few.
Whatever next…Fans on the board:)
HH
DD wishes he bought everton or similar i meant to say
Foghorn Leghorn
Thanks. Just wondered why they couldn’t use the space that’s there instead of using it to give the result of a meaningless friendly with no connection to Scotland!
The best hope we have of fair reconstruction in football is fans’ boredom. No big football or political body will save us so the only real hope is that fans in stadia and at home get bored of watching the same teams play each other over and over. Fans giving up or refusing to watch will force change a lot quicker than appeals to large capitalist organisations to do the right thing. There is no limit to the big clubs’ greed, nor the players’ for that matter. Hitting them in the pocket will work – everything else is wishful thinking.
Saint Stivs says SACK THE BOARD
anzhi makalaka springs to mind with that, there are several more.
Pull the tv deal away, out of those 20 who would exist tomorrow? i hate to say that because it is there.
the tv deal will only be propped up for so long, as soon as someone like sky has a rethink the next tv deal will not increase, there is only so much and so far it can and will go. the latest deal is lunacy.
Por Cierto ( from previous article)
Perdóname, amigo!
Just didn’t want Hamiltontim making a mistake in his homework.
Hablemos Glespañol!
Don’t know if this has been posted before, guy must have thought he was doing well getting a corporate box and invited along his mates and their wives, hmm wrong end mate. Face is a picture though, some sweary words plus they copy our JCGE….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMJfAyOkaKs
We need an alliance of clubs outwith the big leagues. Even a fans alliance to get things started.
If the legal route is a possibility then what exactly IS the final straw before we insitgate it?
HH
the tv deal might contract, it wont collapse,
if it does contract, its an opportunity for another media mogul to step in and bid.
i honestly fear we are doomed to become a forgotten giant.
left here in scotland .
If the ECA proposal in 6-9 months is that Man Utd and Milan get guaranteed spots in the CL every year regardless of league position then Lawwell and co. have wasted a lot of time at these meetings.
HH
I just noticed there that top whistler said sorry to the Hun for sending him off, that’s nice and all over the papers too, this the same gentleman who told Leigh Griffiths to F… O.. Right?
Ah well colours nailed to the mast and we move on right?
traditionalist88
Maybe they could just suggest all previous winners are automatically entered?
If people continue to subscribe and advertisers continue to advertise, Sky will continue to pump billions into English football.
Now if anyone knows of a scandal involving the English FA hierarchy and is prepared to blow the whistle that might hole the ship below the waterline.
Now that couldny be the reason that Sky only give us a pittance.
Naw, our SPFL/SFA ghuys are above and beyond reproach.
Aren’t they?
West End of East End on 11th February 2016 2:08 pm
who is this Gary Ooper they sign of ?
Robert88 on 11th February 2016 2:16 pm
traditionalist88
Maybe they could just suggest all previous winners are automatically entered?
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I’m sure its been put out there.
HH
Celtic’s predicament is not the fault of cartels it’s simply about geography and population. Break up the cartels all you want but there is no way a team from say London will ever agree to share tv revenue on an equal basis with a team from Glasgow.
The only way to break in to this closed shop is by spending money on surveys, market research etc to prove that there is a significant moneyed group out there that is being ignored and as a result they are using they disposable income on other things. Celtic have to show that for relatively little investment a significant return can be made by the Cartel.
DD and PL should pray to God that the results of this market research etc does indeed show Celtic to be a global brand.
Without supporting evidence there is no way any big business(Cartel) is going to take our claims of being one of the worlds biggest clubs seriously. 80000 fans on a 3 day piss up in some remote part of Spain 10yrs ago isn’t evidence of a global support.
Just a thought, I could be wrong,, (Weil I could be) if we are a different league, from England , Norn iron, Wales, and Ireland, and we can’t join those leagues because of different countrie status according to eufa, then why (in my memory) have we never had officials from any of those countries doing our European games? And like wise ours doing one of theirs? Just a thought,?
traditionalist88
Steau aren’t an attractive opponent to be fair. nor are we, except for our wonderful atmosphere
Professional football, as is recognised today, will be sustained by the continued support of active supporters. Television carefully processes an 11k crowd at Bournemouth and a 75k crowd at Old Trafford at equivalent volumes so the only way to comprehend the different experience is to go to the games.
I only care about Celtic. The statistic from my club I’d be interested to read each season is a percentage spread by age range of season book holders. To my untrained eye, the collective Celtic support at games is ageing at the same rate as me. There’s an obvious hurdle to overcome in Celtic’s pursuit of a sustainable future should that be the case.
Not sure if this has been mentioned from last night but this valencia cheat should go far in the game.
https://cdn.streamable.com/video/mp4-mobile/mvy1.mp4
automatic qualification at group stages for previous winners equals at the present time 5 and half groups
The previous winners who won’t be invited are……..
Forest. Villa. Ajax. Feyenoord. Steau. And celtic
Without supporting evidence there is no way any big business(Cartel) is going to take our claims of being one of the worlds biggest clubs seriously. 80000 fans on a 3 day piss up in some remote part of Spain 10yrs ago isn’t evidence of a global support.
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They come from Bonny Scotland
They come from County Cork
They come from dear old Donegal
and even from New York…
Thats the evidence sorted:)
HH
West End of East End on 11th February 2016 1:52 pm
Saint Stivs – Mind blowing numbers there, I was reading about the Liverpool fans protest at ticket prices and a football finance expert said that when the new money comes in teams could actually afford to let all fans in free and each club would still generate more money than this season.
*the biggest spectator sport in the US, surprisingly, is football, 34%, it’s well marketed and yet at Super Bowl 1 the LA Coliseum was only 50% full and the fans there were requested to move down to the lower seats to give the impression of a fuller house.
It’s looked upon as a family sport which is why any indiscretions by their players or officials on and off the field are severely dealt with.
I wasn’t surprised to find out that America’s game, baseball, 18%, has fallen in popularity. Incidentally College Football 13% is catching up.
One of the reasons for its sharp decline is high salaries only made possible by TV rights and the use of performance enhancing pharmaceuticals i.e. it’s no longer a fair sport.
Another may be the lock outs, 8 have occurred in the history of the game, with the last which began on August 12, 1994 and resulted in the remainder of that season being cancelled, including the postseason and, for the first time since 1904, the World Series.
The sport outwith playoff games have never really recovered and only TV rights keep it going.
The players treated the fans with disdain and they never really came back. The love affair with the “Boys of Summer” is well and truly over. Who would have thought of that?
Watch out fitba, especially in Scotland, as it could happen to you.
Robert88 on 11th February 2016 2:30 pm
traditionalist88
Steau aren’t an attractive opponent to be fair. nor are we, except for our wonderful atmosphere
==============
Well we tick at least one box.
HH
People keep saying the bubble will burst. On what basis?
Just look at the NFL in the United states. Recession proof business.
That’s what the EPL and CL are becoming. The money is here to stay and teams like Bayern Munich and AC Milan simply want a bigger piece.
The big down side to this ticket reduction thing could be that if levels of tickets in the premiership are reduced significantly or to near nowt, then clubs like ours will be effected as the expectation will be the same and people would be less inclined to attend games i feel.
There’s a local turf war going on betweem Sky and BT Sport which is in essence a proxy of a wider scrap between satellite broadcasting and internet.
Sky’s subscriber base is predicated on Sport content, and in the UK that means football, and it means English Premiership football.
BT (and to a lesser extent Virgin) is attempting to use football to drive signup to its broadband and mobile services.
Not content with a near monopoly on fixed line, BT is close to acquiring EE, the merged Orange and T-Mobile platform. EE has a 30% share of the mobile market, and offers a ‘superfast’ 22Mbps wirless broadband for non-urban locations.
On the other side, Sky’s mobile SkyGo platform remains nascent and is adjunctive to Satellite packages, but the recent deal with O2 provides it with access to the 2nd largest mobile platform. It also recently bought O2’s landline business.
Satellite is a “receive only” system, fixed and belonging more to the 20th century than the 21st. It’s fighting to remain relevant. SKy is fighting to remain in business. The battle for the distribution network is manifest in the battle for content, most spectacularly, football content.
You can’t look at the EPL and not factor local, current and short term market influences. The same influences are not at work in Germany or other major TV markets at the mooment.
We’ll see the emergence of new players shortly. Google’s Youtube, Netflic, Amazon Prime, others.
Whether the result is a levelling up of rights values, or a levelling down, we’ll see in due course. As ever though, the revolution won’t impact greatly on Scotland. Scotish football will not be televised. We’re just too damned wee to bother about.
traditionalist88
not enough though, gives us an edge, but does my box in whenever i talk about Celtic or we are talked about, just for having a great atmosphere, be nice to say the football aint bad either, im always having to say that!
The way Chinese and Indian clubs are throwing money about,they will want to be part of something bigger soon…..
Other problem of no cost or really cheap tickets we lose our young supporters. I know 2 local boys clubs here with regular trips to see city.
Robert88 on 11th February 2016 2:42 pm
traditionalist88
not enough though, gives us an edge, but does my box in whenever i talk about Celtic or we are talked about, just for having a great atmosphere, be nice to say the football aint bad either, im always having to say that!
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I know mate, but its better than not being talked about.
I hope Lawwell is asked about his ECA involvement and specifically about his comments in November 2014 if there is no benefit to clubs like ours come the publication of ECA proposals in 6-9 months.
http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/celtic/1334168-celtic-and-others-to-propose-change-to-champions-league-qualification/
Because himself and the club have put a lot of time and effort in.
There has to be a tipping point where we take action,
HH
It cant be long before football is personalised to the max.
You buy a subscription…you get access to all your teams matches…home and away,..all season.
A sort of internet season ticket….but a proper one.
Probably happening now.
HH
Trad88,
What king of action ?
Kind even
Canamalar
The legal route is possible according to our host.
Implications obviously massive for the worldwide game.
But maybe Paul67 can put more meat on the bones of how we oppose the cartel?
HH
maybe our aspirations should amount too reducing the number of senior clubs in Scotland competing for our pounds and amalgamation is the way forward
London with a population of 8.5 million at present sustains 14 senior football clubs whereas the population of Scotland 5.5 million attempts to sustain 42 senior clubs. That’s the economic reality of our present situation.
Uefa in my opinion have changed their remit.
they are securing football for the widest possible viewing audience instead of the widest possible playing audience.As a result France,Spain,Italy,England and Germany have Uefa tournaments skewered/tilted towards those member countries teams,top5/4/3 etc.This,along with each of those national leagues having the best national tv deals means the richer/bigger populace countries get richer whilst the rest are left languishin around for crumbs and have to cut our cloth accordingly.
I do not subscribe to sky.i do not want to support english football.to me all scottish subscriptions should be going into scottish football,bollox to the sky model,they will make millions attempting to roll kack in glitter next year punting there fraud firm,
felt Sorry for the young men last night,3 or 4 in there for years to come,
good meeting big lefti HH my friend
HH to one and all
:-)