The Beautiful Game is Over

Money and football - a powerful but deadly combination.

In football, just as in all free markets, a small number of clubs has come to dominate the English game both in terms of access to resources (money and the best players) and in output (their success on the pitch). How did this happen? And is there any way the other clubs can claw their way back to compete on equal terms?

For most football fans the winning game is over. The rich clubs are becoming richer; the smaller clubs of increasingly little importance. There is a marked decline in competitive balance and football's biggest consumer, TV, is dominating demand, with the traditional fan being pushed out. Meanwhile, the game's global regulators (FIFA and UEFA) pursue their own interests, with the result that domestic regulators are losing their power to enforce standards. In England, the national team suffer at least in part because the Premier League is comprised of a disproportionate amount of foreign players and managers. Success for clubs from the Midlands, North East and most other parts of the country is now largely judged as avoiding relegation, or at best, finishing higher than seventh place in the Premiership. Inequality is increasing.

Is it now too late for the others to catch up? Can competitive balance be restored? Is the game now forever doomed to crass commercialism and speculative, foreign ownership?

In The Beautiful Game Is Over distinguished Professor of Business Finance John Samuels carefully examines the way the game has been organised since its inception over one hundred years ago. He comes to the conclusion that football, like any other twenty-first century industry, has gone global, both in its ruthless pursuit of profit through its reliance on free market forces, and in the marginalisation of its potentially greatest asset: the traditional football fan. Synthesizing an impressively broad range of football-related facts and analysis, The Beautiful Game Is Over addresses the problems that currently lie at the heart of the game, whether this be corruption, inept corporate governance, the dearth of talent at the national level, or the dirty money and dubious people coming into the game. It is truly an indispensable read for the committed football fan.

Details


Author	John Samuels
ISBN	9781846241642
Cover Type	Hardback
Format
Publication Date	1/1/2008
Author Biography
Price:	£18.50

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