As the English football season has come to a finish it is now time to ponder on the state of the English game and where it can be developed. A lot of people have had their say on the way the game is operated and the way the ‘business of football’ is taking over from the where it must be; on the pitch.

Over the last decade there has been a big influx of investment into football clubs in England. A lot of this investment has been from overseas with good and bad consequences. The popular ‘top 4’ as they were called (Tottenham have now broken into that spot) are all now under foreign ownership which leads us to suppose that the English game is getting further away from it’s roots and moving towards a more American scheme of Franchises. What is meant by this, is that in the American sports scheme the various sports teams across baseball, basketball, American football and ice hockey have a constant circulation of players, managers and owners. If you look at the line-up for one season it is totally different for the next as there are vast amounts of money mixed up when trading players to these Franchises. Though this is not the scary part, many American Franchises have moved location in order to get more supporters and revenue, our own example is Wimbledon FC who went from FA Cup winners and regular Division 1 competitors to moving their squad to Milton Keynes. Will this become more common?

A lot of Franchises For Sale opening are available in America, whoever comes in makes significant alterations and can even move the franchise to another area of the country if the terms are correct. I am not saying that this will happen in England but with the incessant big money being spent at the top row of football, some or most of the smaller clubs in the lower leagues may have to look at the preference of moving. Most of these clubs are operated as a small businesses and cannot contend with the money that is now invested, many are operated like a Home Based Franchise, with the smallest outgoings and managing everything in-house.

We found this last year when an owner has not fulfilled their obligations and promises the fans will rise up and try to move the owner on. An example is Newcastle United where the supporters were very unhappy with the performances on the pitch and therefore turned on the ownership. The owner did put the club up for sale but could not find a buyer as the asking price was awfully exaggerated, they have made it back into the premiership and now the clubs fortunes may change. We are now looking at every squad in English football has a price, the same as all the Franchises For Sale choices in America. If the appropriate person with enough money offered the money for any club then it would be taken.

It now does not count if the owner is foreign its just as long as they have the money. Is this appropriate? The days have disappeared where you have a so called ‘Home Based Franchise’, where the club is operated as a family and everything is dealt with within. The Franchises of America are operated in an open marketplace for everyone to see and that is the way we have gone. Is this good for the game in England or have we lost our family orientated game and moved to a more commercial, business game?