Nothing lasts forever… nothing!
Manchester United fans will confirm this, haha
I don’t think it’s sustainable either. We all know PL football is too expensive and restrictive to go along with your mates as a young person and has been for many since the 00s at least. You have to be initiated into it by an older relative. That means multiple season tickets and matchday tickets. I am trying to bring my lads up in it but the way things are going we are bound to be part of a shrinking demographic because the cost makes this harder every year.
The core of our support is middle aged or retired and there’s no guarantee those matchgoers will be replaced as younger folk have other distractions, higher housing costs, less wage growth and so won’t get chance to form a lifelong loyalty because they are priced out.
But kids still love football so lower division and non-league clubs could have a field day for those that want the fresh air. It’s been said before to some derision but how many who might now go to Stockport or West Dids and Chorlton would once have been Blues? How many who go to Salford or FCUM would have been Reds, how many who now go to Wrexham would once have been Scousers? Folk might laugh and think the numbers and quality of football pose no serious threat, but I think that would be complacent - these sides could grow and grow as the PL becomes less accessible and starts to sink with debt and hubris.
You can argue that this really only affects matchgoing, but without matchgoing you don’t have a product.
My feeling is that big PL clubs everywhere are overestimating people’s capacity to withstand price rises, and overestimating the sustainability of football tourism in an era where wages shrink, prices rise, and green mandates will make travel more difficult. They are underestimating the value of generational and local ties and having an audience on the doorstep who can provide years of loyalty and recurring income if you don’t push them too hard.
But fans can also do their bit. We have so many loyal, diehard ST holders but we also have those who aren’t making the most of it, acquired them to lock in big games or whatever and are now hogging them, when they come they stay silent, spend the game looking at bets on their phone, can’t wait to go - if they really asked themselves, they might find out they are not all that mithered about matchgoing and would rather watch in the pub. The club is going to know this and wants to shake them out, and we’ll all pay a price as they do this.
As a fan base we also ought not to encourage unnecessary or excessive signings while we have a deep squad and loads of academy lads itching for minutes. I would not want us to pay more than £60m for Bellingham. He’s a talented kid but the numbers being talked about are ridiculous,the cost will be passed on to us and we do not need him at the prices being talked about.
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