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The Premier League is seen as one of the most exciting sports leagues in the world, its popularity spanning the whole globe. It is arguably the best football league in the world but did the English top flight take a turn for the worse when it split from the Football League to create its own independent league?
Back in 1992, the Football League First Division decided to split from the Football League and create the Premier League in order to take advantage of lucrative television deals and they haven’t looked back. The league’s income grew enormously to a point where today many of the league’s top teams can lure foreign players to England with the insane wages they can offer as a result of the League’s growth. However, as the Premier League has developed a strong financial aspect to its model, it has became increasingly blatant that the teams with the most financial assets do the best. For example, a few years ago Manchester City were a club battling relegation but as soon as the rich UAE consortium took over, they rapidly got better by signing players they would not have acquired pre-UAE-consortium days and it only took until last season for Manchester City to win their first league title in over 40 years. The runners up of last year’s Premier League just so happens to be Manchester United, the most valuable sports team in the team. Coincedence? I think not. Teams such as Aston Villa and Swansea cannot compete with the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United simply as they have not got the financial assets that the Manchester clubs have.
The spending power of the top English clubs is also hindering the development of young English talent, it is no coincedence that the England national team has been suffering a period of complacency whilst the Spanish national team is getting stronger and stronger. Why is this? Simply because the top teams in Spain, e.g. Barcelona and Real Madrid, consist of predominantly Spanish players, they are developing the local talent coming through the ranks and helping them cross the bridge from academy football to professional football. As a result of the rich, title challenging English clubs always trying to stay ahead of their rivals, they look for already proven talent. This proven talent is often from abroad and since they have the money to buy proven talent, they will do so, rather than focusing on developing their own, homegrown players. This has meant that English talent has stagnated, as many of them aren’t properly guided to take the next step from academy football to top flight football. The Premier League has attempted to prevent this by introducing 25 man squads, of which 8 must be ‘homegrown’ (players that have been trained in England or Wales from the age of 15 to 21 for a minimum of 3 years). However, it has made little difference, especially as homegrown players don’t even have to be English, as long as they meet the rule explained above, they are considered homegrown.
So what can the Premier League to address these problems. Place your opinions in the comments below and soon I’ll write my answer to these problems as well as including some of your opinions. Please also feel free to comment on any ways I can improve my blog and please spread the word of this blog, tell your friends!
Game of Ninety 