We are all hypocrites and we are all complicit…

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The past 72 hours have highlighted three undeniable truths: Capitalist billionaires enjoy making money. There is strength in numbers. Football is a sport plagued by hypocrisies.

I feel I should preface this article by declaring my staunch opposition to the ESL. While I concede an ESL-like competition is a natural progression, I cannot endorse it in its current form. Keeping that in mind, know that any criticisms I direct at the media, fans or at football in general are also aimed at myself. Consider this an exercise in self-reflection.

As far as I’m concerned this whole unsavoury mess begins and ends with us – the fans. We are all hypocrites; that’s the bottom line. That moral outrage we’ve been feeling over the last few days should be inverted. These capitalist swines we detest have been leeching off us for decades, yet we’ve done diddly squat about it. We have been complicit at every turn, facilitating their corruption of the game through every aspect of our behaviour.

Yesterday’s favourable result was a real game-changer though (I hope). It was a baby step towards the emancipation of the sport. But if we want to affect real positive change here, if we endeavour to harness the momentum of this movement, change has to begin with us. Take a step back and really look at our game – it’s riddled to the core with hypocrisies.

The wild scenes that unfolded outside Stamford Bridge yesterday were so cathartic for so many of us. The electric atmosphere, the passion, the pure egalitarian joy. You’d swear you were witnessing the liberation of Baghdad. We cheered on these sporting revolutionaries, these brothers in arms. It is the feel-good moment of this bizarre season. However, online, that fraternal bond has been anything but harmonious. Not all of us were united.

Since news of the ESL broke it’s been open season on your rivals; ‘Can you believe the nerve of Klopp and what he said about [insert agenda]?’ or ‘Daniel Levy is an unscrupulous charlatan’ – but the other guy – our guy, he’s okay. Of course, all of the ABUs have come out of the woodwork and have gone straight for Woodward. Inevitably, that trite old misapprehension about United’s decision to go to the World Club Cup has been trotted out like some prize mare.

Ed Woodward Man Utd

Any opinion you espoused over the last few days can and has been labelled insincere. Everyone is insulted by someone else’s perceived ‘faux indignation’ or ‘faux moral outrage’. Then there are the jabs over historic privilege. Why should Spurs fans be held in the same standing as Liverpool’s? There have been a number of buzzwords that have punctuated this sordid affair. Among them the most divisive is ‘legacy’.

The commercial and sentimental value of fans outside the UK has been called into question, even by their fellow supporters. Apparently you may only be considered a truly entitled United fan if you have been within the proximity of Old Trafford for some undefined, arbitrary period of time. ‘If you haven’t seen Henry play at Highbury then you’re not as much a Gooner as I am’. You just don’t have the same clout in this discourse. Sorry.

The Americanisation of the sport, and the move towards the American franchise model (another fallacy), has been a recurring point of debate in comments sections everywhere. You’d hope for an open-minded conversation about the merits and pitfalls of any such system, but what you got instead was an unfiltered stream of xenophobic consciousness.

Some questioned the value of European fans compared to Asian, African and North Americans. The very same people who are quite content to let The Avengers be their kids’ moral compass, suddenly have an issue with globalisation? Do these people realise that the sport exploded because of these lucrative new foreign markets?

Why are the self-proclaimed ‘legacy fans’ afforded special dispensation in this matter? To what do they attribute their divinity? If it is the duration of their physical proximity to the stadium, then why don’t they support their local team? Nothing is stopping them from supporting both clubs. If you’re willing to drive 50 miles into the centre of London, then surely you can see the multifaceted value attached to staying local. Where is that same ESL outrage at the plight of the lower-league and non-league clubs?

Maybe I’m a little too harsh on fans. At least we stood up and said enough is enough – it just took us a little while. We’re by no means the only guilty, or hypocritical, stakeholders. The industrialised system extracting every last drop of revenue from our pockets has been in place for an age now, and it is a well-oiled machine. There are many cogs at work.

The governing bodies have been at the very core of this machine. The owners of the ESL’s founding clubs were motivated by their dissatisfaction with the way UEFA ran their shop. I couldn’t believe the gall of UEFA and their brazen attempt at playing hero. Did they think we would forget the corruption? The cronyism? The decades of inflated salaries?

UEFA and Premier League still self-serving greed merchants

For UEFA, or FIFA, to accuse anyone of malpractice is both the funniest and saddest thing I’ve heard this year. Of course, the Premier League are no better. They signed off on all these tycoons. It’s no wonder parallels have been drawn between the ESL project and the launch of the Premier League.

Players are part of the system and not immune to criticism. There was widespread approval of the Leeds players for donning those ‘Football is for Fans’ shirts before their game against Liverpool. Fine sentiment, but what exactly was the message?

Did they mean to say they were playing for the fans? If that’s the case then renegotiate and decrease the value of your contract. If every player in the squad feels the same way, we can drop ticket prices so more fans can actually afford to come and watch you play. After all, it’s is for the fans.

The reality is that every club has over-extended its reach. They have become entangled in a web of subservience. They all suckle at the teet of the broadcasters and advertisers alike. Culture is just another resource, a product sold to the highest bidder. The King Power stadium, The Utilita Arena, Red Bull…everything. Whether directly or otherwise, clubs have endorsed the inflated value of the football product.

The media play a massive part in perpetuating the system. Ex-players, who made millions during the careers, have lined up to criticise the same morally bankrupt owners who lined their pockets. I’m a Toon fan, and I love the man, but if I have to hear Alan Shearer say ‘not in my day’ one more time I’m going to spontaneously combust. Those days are long gone Al, don’t be so obtuse.

Then there’s the broadcasters. Sky, as expected, were quick to align their A-team with supporters. Both Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher were so feverishly aggressive in their condemnation of club owners and the ESL.

From Solskjaer to the Super League: 10 of Gary Neville’s most passionate rants

Don’t get me wrong – I love these guys. Their chemistry, opinions and insights are entirely captivating. But are they not part of the same machinery they oppose? Were their salaries not also paid by Murdoch?

I was wondering how long it would take the politicians to chime in. After all, time spent deflecting from covid and Brexit is time well spent. Boris Johnson was on it like a flash, threatening legislative action. It is rather a shame that his response time to more pressing issues is not as impressively prompt.

It may have taken a bombshell to do it, but the ESL certainly jolted us from our slumber. At the time of writing, all of the English clubs have backed sheepishly out of the project. Now that the wolves are away from the door the question on everyone’s lips has become – what next? Where do we go from here?

I watched an interview with Nedum Onouha yesterday where he spoke very eloquently about this being a great opportunity to really tackle racism in the sport. If we can mobilise the same kind of outcry, from all facets of society, then football can be the vehicle for great change. I totally agree, now is the time to take action. But perhaps we should be thinking bigger?

Possibly the most profound inaccuracy of the whole debacle has been the target of our anger. We have had to keep reminding ourselves (and each other) that it is the owners’ fault, not the institutions they hold hostage, or us. But it’s time to admit it’s everyone’s fault that it has come to this – then we can start moving forward. We didn’t have a say in the lockdown, but we have do have a say in this.

 

Eoin Mac Raghnaill – follow him on Twitter

The post We are all hypocrites and we are all complicit… appeared first on Football365.

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