Let me start of this article by stating that I am a huge football fan and I support Liverpool football club. I regularly watch football regardless of whether I am busy or not and I always ensure that I watch all of Liverpool’s matches. I have always been a strong football fan.
However, for quite some time now, there is one issue in football that has started to bother me. In fact this issue has irritated me for a while, but it has come to a stage where I am sickened by it. This issue is the greed element mired into footballing culture today. In the past, footballers were only paid a few hundred pounds per week. Players such as Bobby Moore received enough money to take care of themselves and their families. These players played solely because of the passion they had for football and not because of monetary reasons.
However, today, football has changed dramatically. Football players in the premiership earn a minimum of £10000 a week! The wage just quoted is the minimum amount for players who are mediocre at best. The majority of talented players earn in the excess of £40000 a week. Let’s take Theo Walcott as an example; up until recently he was earning £55000 a week. However he stalled on signing a new contract at Arsenal simply because he wanted a substantial increase in his wages. Arsenal then submitted to his demands of £100000 a week. This dear reader is absolutely shocking. How can human greed be so profane? One does not need to earn £10000 a week to make a living in the UK, it is simply absurd. Even Doctors, Fire-fighters, Lawyers and people serving in the army do not earn a fraction of what these players earn (not that I’m saying that they should be earning £10000 a week).
What do these players spend their money on? Well as someone who once worked at Chelsea and West Ham united football grounds, I can say that these players spend a portion of their wages on purchasing extravagant cars. The following are the type of cars they drive to their stadiums: Mercedes, Bentleys, Lamborghinis, Range Rovers, BMWs, Rolls Royce and other brands. Furthermore, they also spend ridiculous sums of money on mansions whilst half of the rooms will forever remain unused. In addition, these players’ huge salaries attract females that attach themselves to players purely because they wish to live the rich and famous lifestyle. As a result of these football players gargantuan wages the wag culture in Britain is intensifying.
Many of will remember when Wayne Rooney stated in 2010 that he wanted to leave Manchester United. After Manchester united offered him a new contract worth a staggering £250000 a week he signed the contract instantaneously. This is one in a number of episodes which shows that todays football players are interested solely on money. Manchester City is an epitome of the greed engulfing football today. Manchester City who have wealthy owners have the ability to purchase any player of their choosing because they can afford to pay these players higher wages. Hence, in the world of football today, it is no coincidence that the average player lacks loyalty and is very unlikely to remain at one club. Gone are the days when money did not dictate who wins and who losses matches.
Considering how much money these football players earn, we are yet to hear of many players joining together to form charities to help the starving children in the world, or the masses of UK citizens who are struggling in the current economic crisis. Many players have allowed their natural greed instinct to take over their thinking, and as a result, they have become out of touch with the reality of the average citizen. A good example of this is Rio Ferdinand’s twitter exchange with a football fan. https://twitter.com/BBCSporf/status/286200987113373696 This shows that some football players are similar to some politicians and do not care about the masses, but they simply serve to maintain the current capitalist status quo of materialism, consumerism, individualism and as this article stresses: greed. Football players have successfully kept we the fans in constant awe in matches when it is we the working class who are funding these hoggish men. Even the fact that the average fan may be struggling financially and still manages to purchase expensive season tickets does not seem to affect the players. In fact, the players remain indifferent towards the average citizens struggles.
What can be done to stop this? I think that the F.A, or a greater body can meet and introduce a law which will lower players wages significantly. If this approach doesn’t work, and footballers wages can’t be lowered, then footballers should spend their money appropriately by setting up charities and giving at least 70% of their incomes towards charitable causes. Also, with lower wages, clubs can lower the ticket prices to fans which will enable more people to have a chance to attend football games.
Overall I still love football, but because of the direction football is heading in I have started to become disillusioned with it, and it may only be a matter of time before I stop watching it altogether unless there is a reform of the current policies.
Written by Aaron
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