Against Modern Football?

Against Modern Football?

The 'Against Modern Football' movement has really come to prominence these last two seasons and has really gathered momentum. But why? I'm going to take a look at the 'selling points' of the AMF revolution and see whether we should agree or disagree with the ever-more present 'protest'. If you were to search the #AMF feed on twitter, you'd find a whole range of different gripes that are being listed under it. The whole 'blokish' attitude towards the game these days look back to what football was - a male dominated past-time becoming more and more present and now with the introduction of technology. Things such as burger prices and the 'half & half scarf' regularly fall under the AMF hashtag but is that what the movement is really about? Even the backbone of sport - the fans, are under scrutiny in this very vague topic. Whose to say somebody is a 'real' or 'proper' fan because somebody attends more matches than the other? The 'gloryhunter' and 'plastic' term is also thrown about at will and below I look further into it, giving my opinion on every subject of the AMF revolution. Feedback is always appreciated and can be left at the bottom of the post.

All seater stadiums are here to stay, for now.

Against all-seater stadiums: I understand this kills atmosphere to some extent and the old terracing is missed - but you can't really be 'against' something that saves lives. All seater stadiums at higher levels (more attendances) can be fatal, overcrowding has always been dangerous. The fans get herded about like cattle and there have been high profile catastrophes that have rightly changed stadiums. I understand the want of atmosphere in terraced stadiums but that surely has to take a back seat to spectator safety. Being against life-saving measures is fruitless.

How many glory-supporters at SWFC here?

Against the modern fan: As touched upon above, the tags given to fans are quickly dished out. AMF is supposedly against the 'new' fans of the game but I think they are needed. Lets take Manchester City as an example - the weekly chant of 'Where were you when you were s***?!" is ever-present in opposing stands. You can look up and down the football pyramid and see examples of success breeding new fans the 'glory-supporters' - our very own fans (Sheffield Wednesday) swelled in the promotion campaign. City won the Premier League title in 2011/12 and in exciting fashion, if you were new to the game of football and saw that action, why wouldn't it suck you in? Another reason for these 'new' fans to walk through the turnstiles is the players - world class superstars are on the field in front of you, of course you'd pay to see them. 'Pay to see them', money into the club...the same money the 'traditional' fan passes over. This also accounts for the term 'plastic fan'. This is a fan that supports a non-hometown club and doesn't become a problem for me. You get attracted to sport because of the action and quality of product, obviously the higher in the pyramid the better the quality.

AON Training Complex, a step too far?

Against the commercialisation of the game: "Football is for fans, not for money" seems to be the slogan of the AMF movement but I disagree with it, well - part of it. Yes football is for the fans but it is also for money. They go hand-in-hand. Without fans, there is no money - without money, there is no fans. The more successful a product is the more money it will generate and attract. The amount of advertising in stadiums takes nothing away from the atmosphere nor does it effect on a match-day. Shirt sponsors are part of the game and have been for a very long time. The newest sponsorship package is that of the training complex of clubs, Manchester United have renamed their Carrington complex to the 'AON Training Complex' and will receive £150m over 8 years. That's great business, money pumped into the club just by renaming something so simple. Football clubs are global brands and as such have business plans to make money, they do have costs to cover afterall!

Gareth Southgate in the community....!

Against what football is becoming: First of all you have to see what football is actually becoming; wider reaching, community involved, an advertising draw. From just those I don't see any problem at all - wider reaching makes football accessible in further fields, making new fans and creating more revenue. Community involved - stadiums now have workshops and business rooms built allowing the stadium to be used for a wider variety of activities with teaching rooms and 'Kid Zones' also including the community. As for drawing in the advertising, more money in the sport is always a good thing as it can go towards a much better product. The technology advances in football is a huge talking point for AMF - this comes about because of the sheer amount of money in our game now. Human error is too costly when goals are ruled out and because of that goal-line technology was needed. I for one am not against what football is becoming.

Mega-rich Cristiano Ronaldo

Players wages: Cristiano Ronaldo recently became the highest paid footballer in the world when he signed a reported £14.25m a year contract extension at Real Madrid. Now what warrants this athlete to earn such a ridiculous fortune for kicking a football around? Its not that simple though is it? This is a 24hr job - Ronaldo for example is a walking trademark for his club, you see Ronaldo - you see Real Madrid. If Cristiano was falling out of a club at 3am it reflects badly on Madrid. Its not just a once a week kick-about either, its a long fitness push and talent deserves reward. The huge talent he possesses sells merchandise at an enormous rate, making the expenditure of his contract a more workable figure for his club. The sticking point for me is the sheer amount of that pay - it doesn't justify the millions of pounds for the profession in my opinion but as with any job - if the money is there, you take it. You can't blame the players for taking what a club offers, if you were offered more money at a different company to do the same job, would you turn it down?

An AMF protest

High ticket prices: This has been highlighted recently too with the prices of German football in comparison with English. An investigation into the subject saw huge differences in the prices between match day and season tickets between England and Germany, which includes Champions League winners Bayern Munich being cheaper than Arsenal. This is highlighted by Bayern's most expensive match-day ticket being £58 whilst their cheapest is £12 in comparison to Arsenal whose most expensive is £126 and cheapest is £26. You can even get a match-day ticket for £15 to see Barcelona play at Camp Nou. So why are ticket prices so high in England? Its not the quality of product because Bundesliga (Germany) and La Liga (Spain) are arguably in better shape than the Premier League in recent years. This point of 'Against Modern Football' I agree with. The German business model is to have cheaper tickets which increase attendance at matches - that increased attendance means bigger sales of tickets and a fuller stadium, something everybody wants to see.

Below are the findings of the investigation.
Barcelona: Season ticket £634 (highest) - £172 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £247 - £15
Real Madrid: Season ticket £1460 (highest) - £177 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £494 -£29
Bayern Munich: Season ticket £540 (highest) - £67 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £58 - £12
Borussia Dortmund: Season ticket £823 - £303 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £50 - £13
Arsenal: Season ticket £1955 (highest) - £985 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £126 - £26
Manchester United: Season ticket £950 (highest) - £532 (cheapest) / Match-day ticket £52 - £30

The Emirates Stadium, London.

Stadium relocating: This is another toothless point in my opinion. Football clubs move stadiums due to demand. If they have a demand for tickets which their current stadium cannot accommodate then the straight forward option is either an extension or stadium relocation. The AMF followers moan t a lack of atmosphere but when a club moves/extends a stadium to increase attendances (and therefore atmosphere) they are lambasted. You only have to look at Arsenal and the Emirates Stadium. The final capacity for Highbury was 38,500 whilst the new Emirates Stadium has a capacity of 60,361. More bums on seats means more money through the gate, which in turn means more money for the club to spend (once debts are paid off!).

I know this piece comes across as one-sided and I suppose it is - but everything you read regarding the subject is pro-AMF, this is just an argument against the 'revolution'. If it was just 'Against Modern Ticket Prices' I would be all for it - but too many people are jumping on the bandwagon and putting minor grievances under the AMF banner. As touched upon at the very beginning though, burger prices do need to be brought back in line, a half & half scarf harms nobody and can be a momentum of somebodies day and ANY fan that watches the game is allowed to when they choose. Football evolves year in, year out and modern football is what the trends have made it.