Put the book back on the shelf 28/09/05 | by TrickyMatt

As a fan of a lower league club (sorry!) I couldn’t resist adding my voice to the current furore, if you could call it that, regarding the current state of the top flight of English football. With lower attendances and fewer viewers, is the Premiership still the place to be? As I sat watching Nicky Eaden punt yet another aimless ball straight to the Blackpool rearguard, the thought of 4-5-1 and 0-0 draws seemed a warm prospect. Is life more entertaining in the lower leagues? Is Chelsea’s dominance to blame? Is it simply too expensive?

The statistics show, at the moment, that you get more goals outside the Premiership. My most recent point of reference is the still fresh in the memory 1-1 home draw with Blackpool. Take the first half for example: Forest hit the woodwork twice, surely reason for excitement? Momentarily perhaps, but the complete ineptitude of numerous Forest players gave me more concern for the future and instant frustration rather than excitement. You see, I’d much rather see a technically able team than one liable to hit the bar every now and again but can barely string three passes together. Of course, the result is all important and without results pretty football is useless, but I want to see players that are far better than myself and in any event, quality football and results go hand in hand.

The recent Liverpool versus Manchester United clash was cited as a classic example of the new found bore draw often seen in the Premiership. Having sat through it, it was indeed tedious, more akin to a game of chess. What wasn’t in doubt was the quality of player. Some people have added as weight to the argument that Chelsea’s recent dominance is to blame. Absolute rubbish. There is nearly always one team in the ascendancy, that’s why they are usually the current or recent champions. Don’t for one minute think a Fulham fan is going to stay away for a while because the Cottagers don’t have a good chance of winning the league. It may be harder than ever before – largely due to the financial clout of the top clubs – but a reason to stay away from your local side? No chance.

I would argue that the attendance drop is more attributable to the price of tickets. As Forest fans are well aware, we pay ridiculously high prices for a terrible standard of football. In the Premiership, things are getting astronomical. There are even spare seats to be found at Stamford Bridge, although at £45 a pop and rising it is not that much of a surprise. It was ironic that Joe Cole, currently negotiating a £60,000 a week contract, chose now to criticise his club for not attracting young fans to the games. Please show me a 16-year-old who doesn’t mind shelling out the best part of £50 to watch a game of football!

The cost of a season ticket compared to an average person’s salary must now be higher than ever, certainly for Premiership clubs. It is simply too expensive. Added to this, players no longer represent the club they play for, they appear to me to be more like actors awaiting a blockbuster casting. I now feel little or not attachment to the modern footballer. I hate the “entertainment business” phrase which is now banded about so readily. It has resulted in the absurdity of booing and outward criticism, even when you're Manchester United! “We pay all this money, we want to see our team win 5-0 every week no question.” There is an absurd removal of the beauty which holds football above nearly everything else – almost without exception, nearly every team can plausibly beat another with no one having a God-given right to win every game. Well that’s the dream anyway.

I wonder what happened to supporting your local side whatever the weather. I suffered Forest versus Blackpool because it’s Forest; if I wanted entertaining I would surely have gone somewhere else. After all, I remarked that perhaps one day I would have a son and could tell him all about a poor player called David Friio, but that the bad days were well behind us and we could enjoy top flight football for years to come. Maybe there is an attachment there after all. Forest for me continue to hold an unusual quality, if they were a book I would continue to read it regardless of how poor the chapters were.