Shake me up Judy Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Very sad to see what could be the end of two of English football's greatest clubs tonight. At a time when billionaire owners and T.V. runs football, and while players in the Premier League earn up to a million pound a week, Bury F.C. and Bolton Wanderers are facing the final whistle. Just the names of these two great clubs, their history, their place in the people's game, and all they stand for will tonight strike the hearts of millions of real football fans. Do we even have a national game anymore ? I'd argue that we lost it long ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc.fixit Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 I wonder where folks priorities lie? World affairs, Brexit and Brazil forest fires 50% of news, two scabby football clubs the rest of the news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dilligaf Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 2 hours ago, Shake me up Judy said: Very sad to see what could be the end of two of English football's greatest clubs tonight. At a time when billionaire owners and T.V. runs football, and while players in the Premier League earn up to a million pound a week, Bury F.C. and Bolton Wanderers are facing the final whistle. Just the names of these two great clubs, their history, their place in the people's game, and all they stand for will tonight strike the hearts of millions of real football fans. Do we even have a national game anymore ? I'd argue that we lost it long ago I thought cricket was the national game to be honest. Was football a British thing ? Not being funny, I just don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilp Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Didn't the Aztec's play football with severed heads? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shake me up Judy Posted August 27, 2019 Author Share Posted August 27, 2019 2 minutes ago, quilp said: Didn't the Aztec's play football with severed heads? No, that was Millwall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.K. Posted August 27, 2019 Share Posted August 27, 2019 Bury was loaded up with debt to fund the construction of student accommodation. Then the whole house of cards collapsed. It used to make me smile that the M-town build-up to Utd vs City was always well over-hyped, presumably to drive advertising revenue, while the local derby between Rochdale and Bury was simply billed as "El Classico". It has a certain charm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 17 hours ago, Shake me up Judy said: Very sad to see what could be the end of two of English football's greatest clubs tonight. At a time when billionaire owners and T.V. runs football, and while players in the Premier League earn up to a million pound a week, Bury F.C. and Bolton Wanderers are facing the final whistle. Just the names of these two great clubs, their history, their place in the people's game, and all they stand for will tonight strike the hearts of millions of real football fans. Do we even have a national game anymore ? I'd argue that we lost it long ago I thought the same. It is quite outrageous. I think a figure of around £2million was quoted by the EFL as required to facilitate Bury FC trading to the end of the season. An appeal was put out by the current owner and all that accrued was £50,000 from fans of the club and fans of other clubs. Within half an hour's drive of Bury are massive PL clubs, owners, players, all multi-millionaires. Why can't some of these put hands in pockets to assist the game that lavishes such wealth on them (or in some cases that they lavish wealth into for other purposes) with a donation they wouldn't even notice? Or £100k from each PL club? The silence from all of them is deafening. You can say that it is wrong to reward profligacy, and I would agree, but funds do not have to be given to the current owners. Money could be put into a trust to fund the day to day operation of the club by an administrator pending a resolution to the affairs of the underlying company and finding a buyer. I can't say for certain what the owner's part in the club's downfall has been. He bought it for £1, so obviously it was in dire straits, and he put through a CVA to try to work through the problems. He is getting a lot of stick, but I think the problems predate him by a considerable period. I wonder how much, if anything, he was asking for the club in the deal that has fallen through. Obviously the due diligence has revealed horrors of liabilities previously unseen. Very sad for the supporters, particularly considering their promotion last season. And old Man City fans thought they were riding a rollercoaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I'm not sure how it is the Premier Club's fault that Bury was mismanaged. There is a danger of rewarding mismanagement, and asset striping if you just rely on the Premier Clubs to bail them out. And this is nothing new, in fact, this is the first team to go under in the Premier League era. I guess you could argue that the Nevilles, giving their family connections to the club might have a moral obligation - but an Ivorian who's funding programmes in his own country? Whilst, it is sad for Bury supporters they were happy to celebrate promotion, presumably at the expense of a team that lived within it's means. Still teams come back from this Newport, Accrington, Aldershot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 1 hour ago, Declan said: I'm not sure how it is the Premier Club's fault that Bury was mismanaged. There is a danger of rewarding mismanagement, and asset striping if you just rely on the Premier Clubs to bail them out. And this is nothing new, in fact, this is the first team to go under in the Premier League era. I guess you could argue that the Nevilles, giving their family connections to the club might have a moral obligation - but an Ivorian who's funding programmes in his own country? Whilst, it is sad for Bury supporters they were happy to celebrate promotion, presumably at the expense of a team that lived within it's means. Still teams come back from this Newport, Accrington, Aldershot. I am not advocating rewarding mismanagement. Former management, ownership etc. should be forfeit as it clearly now has no value as in the case of Bury. I am merely talking about the infrastructure of the club for the benefit of supporters and the grass roots of the game. Those at the top of the game have riches beyond the dreams of avarice and a proportion of these resources should be spread around the game more equitably. I hope that Bury can do an Accrington. They should be assisted in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 That sounds nice but I think it may incentivise the spivs. Run a club at minimum cost - no youth team, first team only good enough to maintain position in league two, crumbling stadium, basic training and fan facilities. Directors fees in the millions syphoning off the money from the Premier League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shake me up Judy Posted August 28, 2019 Author Share Posted August 28, 2019 That's a counsel of despair Declan. Is there nothing that should change ? Is English football in a good place ? The Premier League is a billionaires playground, awash with greed, while the grassroots are dying. Are you happy with that ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 I don't think the grassroots are dying - some clubs are doing well reaching their highest league positions, have high attendances and are being run well. Bury are the first league club in 30 years to drop out due to financial problems. In the 90's despaired that the formation of the premier league would mean the death of the smaller clubs - even wrote a song about it, but I was wrong the lower leagues have been more stable since then. Bury's problems weren't caused by the premier league but by the way the club was run. There are lessons to be learnt from what's happening to them but those are about the scrutiny of club ownership by the EFL. Personally, I'd favour clubs run by fans co-operatives, but even that's no guarentee. However, football is structured, there will always be clubs that are mismanaged, over reach themselves and run into trouble. It's always been like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 30 minutes ago, Declan said: I don't think the grassroots are dying - some clubs are doing well reaching their highest league positions, have high attendances and are being run well. Bury are the first league club in 30 years to drop out due to financial problems. In the 90's despaired that the formation of the premier league would mean the death of the smaller clubs - even wrote a song about it, but I was wrong the lower leagues have been more stable since then. Bury's problems weren't caused by the premier league but by the way the club was run. There are lessons to be learnt from what's happening to them but those are about the scrutiny of club ownership by the EFL. Personally, I'd favour clubs run by fans co-operatives, but even that's no guarentee. However, football is structured, there will always be clubs that are mismanaged, over reach themselves and run into trouble. It's always been like that. I'd prefer it if football was run as football and not a moneymaking toy for foreign multi billionaires... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stinking enigma Posted August 28, 2019 Share Posted August 28, 2019 6 hours ago, woolley said: I hope that Bury can do an Accrington. Who are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbie Bobster Posted August 29, 2019 Share Posted August 29, 2019 10 hours ago, the stinking enigma said: Who are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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