When Football Disrespects The Fans - Why Supporters Need To Stand Against Premier League Changes

Is there any point in being a football supporter these days?

A bewildering question, perhaps, given the joy the beautiful game brings to supporters over the course of a season.  But does the happiness outweigh the heartbreak?

In terms of your club winning matches and enjoying success, the answer is probably no.  We expect so much of our team that sometimes we bring inevitable disappointment upon ourselves.

The people we pay to watch, however, aren’t the only ones capable of determining our mood.  Move away from the players on the pitch and the staff in the dugout, and you will find a whole different kind of creature.  People who will claim many things but mean few, often feeling the need to state that they are acting ‘in the best interests of the club’.

These are the people in suits, who have probably never worn a football kit in their life and who are even less likely to have kicked a ball.  They have studied business and have a significant role promoting their respective football club.  Often, however, the club are merely their employers.  They see what they do as a job, work which they will often get done in the easiest, most personally-convenient way possible.

The thing that is most significant about these people is quite simply that they don’t get the fans.  They have no idea what it is like to be one, and so are incapable of understanding any objections supporters may have to their actions.

This Premier League season will feature a Cardiff City team that play in red, an Everton side with an unrecognisable badge, and a club now known internationally as Hull City Tigers.

Those who are fickle enough to accept such changes at their club without batting an eyelid are a marketer’s dream.  Fans with anything about them will stand up for what they believe in until their protests cannot be ignored by money-bags owners.

Ultimately, if you change your identity as a way of achieving progress, you will have no idea who you are when you reach success.

Follow @TonyDefc