'Loyalty' in Football.

A lot of the old time 'loyalty' was pre-Bosman. We can never know what great players from the past would have walked away from their clubs and gone somewhere else if they'd been allowed to do so. Back in the day, if you were unhappy at your club and the club wanted to keep you, your only way out was to quit football altogether. For most players, this was a financial impossibility.
 
Another similarity between Lampard and Gerrard is how the end of their English playing careers ended. Yet look at the contrast in how each was portrayed.

Both announced they would be leaving and going to finish in the MLS. Yet one disappeared quietly at the end of the season with no fanfare, and the other's departure was greeted by a mass media frenzy.

Why was this? Was Lampard's relatively quiet departure because Lampard was joining the CFG owned NYCFC (his move to City on loan came later). No, it was because Chelsea told him he was leaving a week after their final league game of the 2013-14 season, and denied him a meaningful send off.

On the other hand, Gerrard's final game was being discussed as early as January 2015, when it was fated that he might make his final Liverpool appearance on his birthday at the FA Cup final.

But Gerrard's send off was driven by the Liverpool fans and club's PR department, and supported by the country's media, who universally hold on to Liverpool as one of their darlings, and refuse to appreciate their glory days are, at least temporarily, over.
 
I remember when I told my Dad I was going to be a professional footballer but that I would (obviously) only ever play for City. He said to me "Son, they're only in it for the money" Well, at 10 years old, I was a bit shocked I can tell you, and replied "What, even Colin Bell?" and he said "Yes Son, even Colin Bell". He was, of course right, it was and always has been about the money and nothing to do with loyalty but, to be honest, I still think he was wrong about Colin Bell.
 
Nigel Adkins was on the radio a couple of months back and he gave a really good insight into some stuff -

One of the points that got my attention was that by the time a young lad (18) signs for a club, his parents often have a vested interest in his welfare, and money will often be a part of things. Not necessarily to get rich, but simply to make sure they have a proper financial future beyond the game...

However, quite soon after, the player has bought his parents a home, and his brother a car, and his sister some stables etc, and soon, the entire family, plus friends have a new lifestyle based on that single player. So by the time a player makes a move, it's no longer just about him, it's 10 other people he's considering too, and what advice are they likely to be giving him?

Clubs show next to no loyalty with players, so you can't really expect any in return. A club will ditch a young lad in the blink of an eye because he's not good enough, and thus can't win things for them.
So if a club can't win things for a player, why shouldn't the player ditch the club?
 
Nice piece, nice website. Added to favs.

With regards to loyalty I think it';s v important and the youth investment is partly City's attempt to grow players who are loyal to City and are not going to be bought/tempted by RM or Barca or Bayern etc. So I do think it is important and relevent even nowadays.
 
A lot of the old time 'loyalty' was pre-Bosman. We can never know what great players from the past would have walked away from their clubs and gone somewhere else if they'd been allowed to do so. Back in the day, if you were unhappy at your club and the club wanted to keep you, your only way out was to quit football altogether. For most players, this was a financial impossibility.

The old fashioned loyalty is a bit of a myth as your post suggests. For example, Bobby Moore tried to get moves to both Spurs and Derby and these were both blocked by te Hammers Board. Even when Bobby lifted the World Cup, he was only on a one month contract with West Ham.

Players of the sixties often lived an extravagant lifestyle but their wages wouldn't have been much different to the local bank manager (with a few exceptions!).
 
I was listening to TS over the weekend. On the programme was Georgie Bingham and Jason Cundy. Cundy pointed out that there was no loyalty in Football. Bingham, however was almost incandescent with rage that Delph did his U-Turn, and stopped just short of recommending a public flogging.

If it wasn't for the fact I was transporting grass cuttings to the tip, I would've called in and asked her about what exactly persuaded her leave SKY to move to America to work for ESPN? Where was the Loyalty? May just do that now.
 

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