Everyone should have the opportunity to do what we did this

[Chris in London]

It's taken a few weeks but its finally sunk in. We are CHAMPIONS. Every club and fans should at least have the opportunity to experience what we have this season. It should not be restricted to an elite few. I don't have the answer, but a club should be able to get a good manager, develop a few players and be able to compete for the league. Thank god for our investment but without it we would could never of dreamt of being in this position.

It may be euphoria at winning the league, but its such an experience that I will never forget and I just think its a shame more teams don't have the same opportunity..

Don't get me wrong I love our situation after all the shit I've seen but how many other teams could realsitically experience winning the league, particularly after this FFP bollocks.

WIth all due respect, and I appreciate your sentiments, do you not see the contradiction in saying FFP is bollocks, yet you wish to see a more level playing field where all teams get an equal chance to take a bite of the cherry.

The truth is money talks, and whether its United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Barca whoever, the success comes from the money spent by the club on paying the highest transfer fees, the highest wages, hiring the best coaches and backroom staff.

The question isn't so much where the money comes from, its more about whether or not clubs should be permitted to essentially buy their success whilst 91 other teams who cannot compete on a level playing field fight for the scraps.

Of course we love the success when it comes. I've loved every title win, every FA Cup, every Carling Cup, CL or whatever that I've seen United win. That doesn't stop me from feeling that behind it all, its a classic case of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

Would I exchange our success for a more "ideal" football utopia where all teams operate on a level playing field. 10 years ago I'd have said "no way". Now however, given the Glazer situation, and with no disrespect the events at Chelsea and yourselves. I think I would like to see some form of restrictions in place so that every club has a fighting chance.

You are most probably saying "ah.. you are only whining because now you can't compete and you don't like it". There is an element of that hypocrisy involved, however to turn it on its head, when we had all the cash it was abhorrent to many City fans. Would any of you give up what you've witnessed last season in favour of going back to the days when you could say "well our club isn't about finances".

The bottom line is, success comes with money. Money breeds success and success breeds more money. Unless they start looking at what clubs spend and try to level it out, then City, CHelsea and United will dominate the game for the foreseeable future until some other rich person throws a few million around like confetti, and all their fans who are against what United, City and Chelsea have done sell their arses for the glory just the way United, Chelsea and no offence mean here, yourselves too...

Every fan hates someone else having what they don't, and in this day and age, the one thing that matters in football more than anything else, is an endless supply of cash...

With all due respect to yourself, can you not see that what the OP was referring to was a genuinely more open contest. In the 1970s any one of a dozen teams could emerge champions in any given season. Would anyone now seriously look beyond us, you and Chelsea? The thing is, the advent of the EPL and the CL has produced a situation where the only way you can challenge the top teams is by chucking a billion pounds at it. FFP won't wash that away, it cements the existing elite even more firmly in place by removing the one way in which the have-nots could challenge the haves. What are the chances of Everton winning the league in the next 4 years? None whatsoever, because they can't even dream that a sugar daddy will drag them out of the doldrums.

We are loving where we are at the moment because we got in before they pulled up the drawbridge; but the majority of city fans think FFP has made football a less egalitarian place.

 

[Dubai Blue]

I agree with the OP completely.

Even during the euphoria of the few days following the title win, I was telling supporters of West Ham, Stoke, Everton (not old enough to see it last time round), Newcastle, Sunderland, Birmingham that I hope they one day get to feel how we did on May 13th, because it's the most insane drug you could ever take.

It's something that all proper football supporters should be able to experience at least once in their life, and anything that makes that more likely is welcome by me. Sadly, FFP will have the exact opposite effect.

 

[Blue_Moon]

we are the 5th club in what was the Premier League's 20th season.

of course its everything to do with money which then brings success, global fan base, merchandise, more money etc and each year the disparity between the top clubs and the rest of the league increases.

although that said, the league evidently is getting more competitive which is great.
there's sides that have spent big in the last year or two and haven't seen the desired results, ie. liverpool, chelsea, and there are sides that dont spend so much and have got great teams that are finishing above them.

I just think without the money there is only so far teams can go. Spurs and Newcastle have had fantastic seasons - without substantial income and money to spend, no side will realistically challenge for the title and that will never change.

Unfortunately clubs that have over-performed do not have the resources to build on that success and establish themselves. Everton and Villa both come to mind.

 

[kobiblue]

Money talks. We've waited forever for this moment, and still we couldn't have done it without the massive investment we recieved, and there are still people saying we don't deserve it because we "bought it".
Which if you call billionaires investing, buying top players, and getting a top manager "buying" the league than I guess we did.
But it took work, we didn't just turn up and win it at the end, even with all that money and investment we just about fell over the line with goal difference because of a last second goal.

The only way we make this fair, and give everyone a chance to win it is either we find some endless pot of gold somewhere which every team gets to dip into, or we take all the money away and make it amateur.

Both are unrealistic. The only hope teams have now, since really the Chelsea takeover, is invest. It's not fair, but it is how it is.

At the end of the day, only the elite can win it and the only way that can happen is with billionaires investing. Top players will only go to top teams or teams that are willing to spend. If we weren't offering a massive wage, very few players would have come to us at the start.