Football has an ownership problem yes, but the blame for the decline of the great game should be shared across the board

James Childs on 2 February 2025

Over the last thirty years, there has been a growing concern amongst football fans alike around the direction of the sport and whether it ultimately fails to serve local communities in a way many of our parent’s generation remember. A growing problem is the ever-bigger distance between fans and the club’s ownership, which can be seen across the tiers of English Football with ownership protests seen at Reading FC, Bolton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic and my own club, Sheffield Wednesday.

Protests have been sparked as a result of fans feeling as though their voice often wasn’t heard and fears around the long-term future of many of these clubs. These fears are understandable after clubs such as Bury FC and Darlington FC’s ownership battles ended in the teams having to start again at the bottom of the English Football pyramid.

The stark truth is that the last three decades have seen the gap between fans and owners widen even further, as both stakeholders have very different interests and objectives in their clubs. Naturally, fans seek investment in both the infrastructure and squad in an attempt to progress as far up the pyramid as possible whereas owners are much more focused on turning a profit or receiving a return on their investment. 

The days of the local businessman owning the football club are long behind us, now it is often rich American businessmen for clubs such Arsenal or Burnley or even the Saudi government, as is the case for Newcastle United. The objective for these owners solely comes from the drive to expand their fanbase on an international scale, in the hope of generating extra revenue for the club. This was demonstrated when Birmingham City CEO Garry Cook suggested that their League One match against promotion rivals Wrexham should be played in the States, an idea which had zero thought for the fans of the English and Welsh side yet seemed appealing to the American owners of both clubs. 

The scrapping of FA Cup replays for the current 2024/25 season, against a backdrop of much fan disgust, went ahead, with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola conceding that it would harm smaller clubs but “much better’ for those teams playing in European competitions. The money available from playing in European competitions makes historic competitions like the FA cup of no interest to Premier League owners. 

The expansion of television coverage, particularly over the last ten years, has been another decision, taken purely for profit but with little consideration for fans. Games are now changed at short notice to appease Sky schedules and broadcast at times which hinder travelling fans. On Wednesday evening, Burnley fans were expected to make the 630-mile round trip to Home Park, a fixture which leaves fans no choice but to make accommodation arrangements. The game was also broadcast on Sky Sports Football, a match one can only assume was picked as it was a relegation threatened team versus a promotion contending team, no matter what inconvenience this makes for the fans.

As mentioned previously, my own club Sheffield Wednesday has been in the forefront of protests against our Thai-businessman owner, Dejphon Chansiri. Fan grievances come from a mixture of ticket prices, poor operational decisions, lack of investment and our near dice with relegation back to League One last season after a less-than-ideal start under the management of Xisco Muñoz.  Whilst I agree fans have a right to protest their ownership and that owners should fundamentally be ‘custodians’ of the club as opposed to ‘owners’, I often feel my own teams fanbase are so blindsided by their hatred for our owner, they unfairly portion 100% of the blame for our misfortunes on him. This view does not make me popular with friends, family and the wider fanbase, particularly on social media and I have often been called a ‘traitor’ for holding views about the club I love which differs from the consensus. 

The most recent disgruntlement from fans has come after a lack of progress for the Owls in the January transfer window. Despite no communication from the coaching team to the Chairman around which players they wish to purchase and less than helpful comments made by manager Danny Röhl around transfer rumours, fans wish to place all the blame at the door of the owner. My sympathy for our owner grows, when I see the abuse he is subject to on social media, not only directed at him but also his family. I agree that Chansiri deserves criticism for some poor business decisions in the past, particularly those that have seen the club receive points deductions or transfer embargos, yet he cannot be blamed for every issue seen at Hillsborough and he certainly should not be subject to any form of abuse, no matter your views on his ownership.

Football clearly does have an ownership issue. The distance between fans and owners is ever widening and decisions made by owners, the FA and media companies are only adding to this. However, fans must be reasonable in the blame they place on owners and, as is the case for my own club, when they should also look at the decisions by the wider footballing establishment when looking who to blame for their disillusionment with the great game. 

Words by James Childs

Ruben Amorim: United’s Saviour? 

Noah Robinson on 19 November 2024

“I’m not naive, I know it’s going to be very different, very difficult,” Ruben Amorim told reporters on the 10th of November after his final game in charge of Portuguese club Sporting. 

“I feel ready for the new challenge,”

-The New Manchester United manager said. 

The ‘new challenge’ has proven too demanding for six full-time managers since the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013. Manchester United currently sit 13th in the Premier League, picking up just 15 points from 11 games, marking their worst start to a Premier League season since the competition started in 1992.

The club has won one game in four in the Europa League. The once dominant side are in need of a saviour…

Amorim joins United on the back of two monumental victories as manager of Sporting. His former side’s dismantling of Man City 4-1 in the Champions League will be a welcome sign for Man United’s fans. This was followed by a 4-2 comeback win over Braga, after trailing 2-0 at half time, leaving the Portuguese side with a perfect 11 out of 11 wins to start their league campaign. 

There are doubts, however, over whether the 39-year-old’s tactics will translate to Man United’s squad in the face of sterner Premier League opposition. Typically, Amorim plays a 3-4- 3 formation, placing emphasis on the wingbacks to provide width and create chances. Sporting’s first-choice wing backs provided 13 assists and 9 goals in Liga Portugal last season compared to just 5 assists and 2 goals from United’s starters. 

Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, United’s left-footed left-backs, are rarely fit, forcing Diogo Dalot or Noussair Mazraoui to fill in, but both fullbacks are right-footed, making their crossing less effective. As a result, they are likely to drift centrally on the pitch, reducing space for the wide forwards who occupy central pockets in Amorim’s system. The exciting winger Alejandro Garnacho could be utilised as a wing back, but United will likely have to find a more defensive-minded solution in the transfer market. 

Amorim has the opportunity to bring Premier League and European glory back to Old Trafford for the first time since 2012 and 2008 respectively. Will his success in Portugal translate to the most competitive league in the world?

The Red Devils will be praying for a miracle. 

Words by Noah Robinson

A turbulent Ten Hag era comes to an end

Freddie Waterland and Daniel Bloomfield on 2 November 2024

Manchester United have sacked their manager, Erik Ten Hag, after a 2-1 defeat at West Ham, leaving them 14th in the Premier League.

Former Manchester United striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy was interim manager for just one game before Ten Hag’s permanent replacement, Ruben Amorim, was announced.

After a positive first season in 2022/23, Ten Hag failed to elicit consistent performances from a squad among the most expensive in the world.

The 2023/2024 season was Manchester United’s worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing in 8th place and conceding a club-record 58 goals. In Europe, the 3-time winners won just one game out of six, a display not good enough for even Europa League qualification. 

After 14 games in all competitions this season, his team had only managed four wins. Despite two successful cup runs in two seasons, Ten Hag’s stock had shrivelled so dramatically over the course of his tenure that he could not afford another abysmal start to a campaign.

In hindsight, Ten Hag never fully recovered from the 7-0 embarrassment at the hands of arch-rivals Liverpool in March 2023. Confused, lethargic and ultimately unsuccessful performances became his trademark. Such was the consistency of his team’s mediocrity; it was almost a surprise that last Saturday’s loss to West Ham relieved Ten Hag of his post.

Unfortunately, the chronic wastage of transfer funds—notably on players he had formally worked with—will be inseparable from his legacy. Since his appointment, Manchester United have had the second-highest net spend in the Premier League, yet they still seemingly require improvements in several positions. Ten Hag’s green-lighting the £82 million purchase of Antony in his first transfer window, a winger who has only achieved five goals and three assists in 56 league games since, set the tone for a woeful recruitment strategy.

Moreover, several high-profile rows during his time at the club did not help Ten Hag. He stamped his authority on United’s squad by releasing an ageing Cristiano Ronaldo and exiling Jadon Sancho after an ill-judged social media post questioned Ten Hag’s management. Sancho, who has mostly underperformed at Manchester United, was released on loan, only to shine again at Borussia Dortmund, where he reached the Champions League final in June.

Though he was appointed to deploy his specific possession-based style, United have appeared inconsistent and ostensibly under-coached as they did during the reign of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was criticised for lacking tactical depth.

Of course, Ten Hag went into this season knowing that his employers had tried hard to replace him in the summer, saved only by their failure to find anyone suitable; his narrow escape from being axed in July was hardly a restoration of the United boardroom’s faith. They surely regretted their decision to stick with him when, in September, United were again outclassed by Liverpool, this time at the hands of Ten Hag’s compatriot Arne Slot. The irritable, brusque, frustrated Ten Hag was neatly juxtaposed by the warm, softly spoken, tactically superior Slot.

United have moved fast to replace Ten Hag, announcing Ruben Amorim in the same week the Dutchman was sacked. Amorim has been immensely successful as Sporting Lisbon’s coach, guiding his team to their first Portuguese League title in almost 20 years in 2021 and securing another last season. He was rumoured to be Liverpool’s top target to replace Jurgen Klopp last summer. Amorim is best placed to get the best out of United’s Portuguese contingent, including their talisman, Bruno Fernandes.

Taking charge of one of the world’s biggest football clubs is never easy, but Manchester United finds itself in a particularly precarious position amongst the football elite. It has been over a decade since the great Sir Alex Ferguson retired, and nine managers later, United are seemingly further away than ever from tasting Premier League glory again. Never mind sleeping giant, Manchester United are positively comatose. 

And yet, with their vast resources and massive global influence, the prospect of returning the good days to the red half of Manchester is too tempting to resist for most of the world’s top coaches. Yes, this is the most poisoned of chalices, but he who returns United to the top of the table will be cemented as one of their greatest managers.

Words by Freddie Waterland and Daniel Bloomfield

Chelsea hit by severe financial sanctions amid crisis in Ukraine

Mack Holman on 23 March 2022

The PM announced Roman Abramovich’s assets would be frozen, leaving Chelsea fans with the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. The long-term repercussions are anyone’s guess, but what do we know so far? Well, Abramovich’s attempt to sell the club has been halted, along with ticket sales, contract renewals, and just to rub salt into the wounds, Chelsea telecommunications sponsor Three has asked for the removal of all logos on the kits and around Stamford Bridge. Chelsea regulars Rudiger, Azpilicueta and Christensen are amongst a star-studded list of players with little time left on their contracts, with rival teams already snooping around the Bridge looking for freebees.

This is how Real win

Jake Ballester on 23 March 2022

At 2-0 down on aggregate with 30 minutes to go and Kylian Mbappé running the show, most considered a comeback impossible. In step Karim Benzema and a roaring crowd to raise Real from the ashes and to victory in Europe, once again.

Jules Rimet Still Gleaming? Shadows cast in spite of dazzling England performance

Owen Frost on 28 July 2021

Sunday 11th July. The final. Students were out in droves clamouring for an England victory. Never before has an English side in our recent memory grown into a tournament bona fide and showed such tenacity in the face of tough opposing sides. After Luke Shaw’s opener in the second minute, hope that football was coming home swept across the nation. It was only after an equaliser in full-time and the inevitable defeat suffered at the hands of Italian penalties that England’s Euros 2020 hopes were crushed. The dream was all over. Or was it?

England’s performance this Euros started off shakily, but steadily picked up pace, much like a Kyle Walker rescuing run, tracking back to extricate the defence. Defensively unblemished until the final two games, full of youthful attacking potential in the likes of Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden to name a few, England proved the initial doubters wrong, demonstrating that they had the maturity and confidence to seriously challenge at major tournaments. The maturity shown in the final stages of the Denmark game were some of the most beautiful passages of English football I have ever seen. Evidently, hope should remain that Qatar scheduled for winter next year will provide ample opportunity for this bright squad of players to go all the way once more.

Fans recklessly overpowered Wembley Stadium employees on Sunday to gain entry into the national team’s biggest fixture in recent memory (Credit: The Guardian)

However, this improvement has largely been overshadowed by the events that followed the Italian victory. First-hand reports via video footage came streaming in after the match of mobs of men shoving Wembley Stadium stewards to gain access to the already capped-off 60,000 capacity venue. After a year which has seen Pride marches cancelled, Sarah Everard’s vigil ambushed by police and Black Lives Matter Protests quashed, the acquittal of these privileged members of the public of such insolent behaviour is a startlingly low blow.

Adding insult to injury, three English players Marcus Rashford, Saka and Sancho who took courageous, unlucky long walks to the penalty spot have since been subject to inordinate amounts of abuse. Gareth Southgate, in his latest press statement issued since the final, named the abuse of the three stars ‘unforgivable’. Saka spoke out on Thursday, rightly pointing to the fact that the “powerful platforms are not doing enough to stop these messages”.

Not only were reportedly 1,000 racially abusive tweets removed from Twitter on Sunday night, but the famous Withington mural of Rashford MBE was vandalised by those insensitive members of the British public. Only five people have been arrested after Saka and co. were racially abused online. Boris Johnson has alleged that any England fans guilty of racist abuse from now on will be banned from matches.

However, racist abuse is not always as obvious as a tweet or a mural defacement; it often manifests itself in more covert, malignant forms. Sunday night was not the first time we bore witness to such intellectual depravity this tournament. We all heard the heavy jeering English players received during the Croatia fixture upon taking took the knee for Black Lives Matter, as well as the incessant booing of Scottish, German, and Danish national anthems. Racist attitudes even infiltrated the attitudes of senior government officials such as Priti Patel who had previously labelled the player’s defiant protests “gesture politics”, much to Tyrone Mings’ documented upset.

We must take positives from the England team’s budding performance in what has been one of their most successful and enjoyable collective recent performances on the international stage. However, it is imperative that are not caught sleeping; expunging this more repugnant side from memory would be extremely disadvantageous. The nationalism and patriotism inherent to many English fans’ identities often begets unnecessary hatred. While the wait for the Three Lions to re-initiate training for Qatar 2022 begins, the actions of many fans on the weekend must not be taken lightly. Evidence already suggests that they seriously jeopardized our chances at hosting the World Cup in 2030. If we want the Jules Rimet to remain gleaming, we have to prove to other nations that we have not only what it takes to kick racism and bigotry out of football, but the common human decency to bring back much-needed respect to the sport we know and love.

Image Credit: The Telegraph