Football Fans - A favour if you will

[Loki]

I'm guessing a lot of the guys n gals on here are passionate in one way or another about football. Be it any of the Professional or Semi Leagues, Your local amateur club or the local Junior Football club that you played for or potentially your children will play for.

So with the revenues and more importantly Profits rising year on year, is it not time for the Premier League to give something back to grassroot's football. This is the base of our game, the base of the pyramid. Without a strong base the house of football is weak by design. A strong and properly financed grassroots football scene allows for

- Better Coach andd Referee Development
- Better Player Development
- Safer Equipment for toddlers, children, teenagers, open age
- Accessible training facilities in all weathers

The list can go on what benefits more money going into grassroots brings. All in all though without it being healthy and well financed the future is not so strong, not so secure. The pool of talent feeding into the semi and professional game is smaller and the quality of that talent will be less.

So enough lobbying. If you have the time, read the following link and sign if you are comfortable to do so. Feel free to share you on your Social network of choice, again if you feel comfortable to do so.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46134

Thanks Loki

 

[Maundie]

Why should they, isn't that what the FAs fees are for, it's not the Premier Leagues teams fault that the FA aren't investing properly.

 

[drunkenmaster]

Is underfunding from the premier league meaning kids are using those spikey metal footballs again, sorry what can be improved for safety for toddlers and any age? At some point accept its a sport, if you want your kid 100% safe put them in some cotton wool in an underground bunker.

Likewise, Spain, France, Belgium and countless other european countries are doing more while spending less(most of those) suggesting that infact its got precisely nothing to do with money at all, but the attitude and style of coaching in the uk.

Until fans, media, pundits and parents stop inspiring kids to be the next Catermole rather than the next Messi... not much will change. Most of europe adapted and changed, England saw the changes, went to other countries to learn their methods and came back with the totally English attitude of, we invented it therefore we know best.

Also all weather training facilities up and down the country, do you have any idea how utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly, utterly absurd that is. Building, maintaining, buying the land, finding the land(where would they go in most built up areas near kids which have no spare land exactly?).

Lastly, the premier leagues income goes up pretty much yearly, and their revenues do, profits by and large, have not. If clubs get a 20mil a year bump in tv money, within 2 years they'll likely be spending 20mil more on wages.

Money isn't the issue, neither is training, you can go to spain, get all your coaching badges and still come back to the UK and tell kids to go kick the other team off the park. Badges and training means nothing, the attitude of the coaches and them actually training those methods because they want to is where the problem is. The prevailing attitude in this country is parents and kids wanting to win and focusing on entirely the wrong things while being trained, coaches teaching the wrong way, kids training the wrong way, parents telling them the wrong things in a player to emulate.

 

[Loki]

Why should they, isn't that what the FAs fees are for, it's not the Premier Leagues teams fault that the FA aren't investing properly.

The FA are investing. They have invested in St Georges park which extends to the likes of Academy players. The issue with Grassroots is that there is insufficient money going into developing good coaches at an amateur level to increase the pool of good talent going into academies.

I was speaking with a scout from Everton about 18 months ago. He along with his colleagues are now scouting on average 15 hours per week more than they have ever done in the past. Not because they are lazy but for the simple reason there is less organised youth football than there has ever been for 7-16 year olds and the quality of players coming through is less. There are less qualified coaches than there has ever been.

If you are happy with the 'Product' that the Premier League is at the moment that is fine no problem but as we have seen in Italy and many other leagues the constant increase in financial pressure is not sustainable. There will come a time when the sub average player from abroad who costs your low end Premier League club £10m will come to an end and there will be very little talent in the UK.

I firmly believe that there is a link between the lack of good a sound grassroots system and the failings of the national team

 

[Caseh]

I can't believe this, but I actually do agree with most of what DM said.

I don't think money is the issue, it's the "win at all costs" thing this country has got going, it's all good until someone else comes from overseas, and they've been taught to play football, not to run around a lot and show a lot of "heart".

 

[Maundie]

So it's the Premier League teams fault that there aren't enough coaches at grassroots level okaaay.

Ive been to see a friends 8 year old play and the coach actually took a defender off because he got caught trying to bring the ball out rather that as he put it 'got rid', as long as thats the mentality then we are always going to be streets behind, like you say its all the Premier League teams fault that and if they don't pay up we should boycott them!!

 

[Tunney]

So with the revenues and more importantly Profits rising year on year

Revenues are rising, profits are not. Very few football teams generate a profit.

But I agree, a larger chunk of the PL television rights money should be going to the lower leagues and grass roots development.

 

[fez]

Very little to do with money as others have said. Its about the general style of football that we encourage in this country. Look at every age from the very youngest to the vets and the style of football is "get stuck in and beat the other team physically". The fact that referees are quite often of dire quality and biased as hell doesn't help either.

You can't beat a physical side with skill if the referee is happy to let one team bully the other. I know we don't want to lose our tackling game but I would wager that there is a sharp drop off in talent in the UK once you get to about 13-15 and kids start playing against opposition twice their size and who are willing to cheat to win.

Most of the skilful players I knew when I was younger gave up the sport around that age because they were just getting kicked the **** out of week in week out.

Kids aren't taught a simple passing game so once you get a team that has matured more physically than their opposition they just power past them. They are faster, stronger and more physical and you end up with the other team demoralised. You can't blame them either. Their game is based around the same ideals as the stronger team but they are being outpaced, out fought and out fouled due to their physical weakness.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Although I think the Premier League should contribute more money, like others have said I think that the problem is that teams want to win at all costs not "play" football. I remember when I played when I was younger, the best teams just had fast people up front who they would hoof it long to all the time.

 

[toshj]

I have a massive chip on my shoulder about the ochlocratic mentality of the clubs in the Premier League through the introduction of the EPPP. I believe there is a massive trickle down effect in English football, due to the broad nature of the coaching and scouting at grass roots level that is introduced by (lower) league clubs.

If the clubs in the PL can throw their weight around by effectively stealing the lower league football product at a snip of what was formerly commanded in fees, then I agree that they should be providing further finances for youth and grass roots football. As a result of this ridiculous EPPP a number of football league and conference clubs have had to shut down their youth programs, and I feel this obviously to the detriment of grass roots football.

Premier League football is now generating huge amounts of money, to the point whereby some of the teams are passing it on to their fans (i.e. Stoke's free away travel all season being a great example), and I feel they should do even more. Money needs to go around further - the NextGen Series isn't running this year, due to a lack of sponsorship money, but no one can deny how sensible a competition it is by exposing football youth to European competitive competition. I'm not saying the EPL clubs should throw money at a commercial enterprise such as NG, but similar types of competition should be funded by the clubs involved in my opinion.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

kids in Brazil seem to be able to become world class players with zero help, kicking a ball about in a hole in a pair of trainers that were donated to them.

it's the youth's mentality which needs to change.

most of them are lazy, and would rather pee their future up a wall than work hard and achieve something.

therefore you only have yourselves (society) to blame for instilling this culture into the youth.