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The hype about the Premier League

spursphil

Tottenham To The Bone
Aug 8, 2008
517
98
I was in the pub last night and the subject came round to football like it tends to do. Anyway one bloke in particular was singing the praises of the Premier League, stating that it was the best league in the World in every way.

I do like a heated debate so disagreed with him on a number of points he had made, mainly on his claim that the Premier League was the best supported league, I told him that honour belonged to the Bundesliga.

“No bloody way” was his response “name the clubs” he demanded, I could name a few but not all, but I was positive the gates in Germany beat the gates here. Other’s joined in and mostly said I was talking out of where the sun don’t shine, god I love these people that believe all the hype they see on Sky, bets were made but as I’m not really a gambler I said we would settle it with a pint. I have a good few pints to collect after checking out the facts today.

The Bundesliga has attracted larger average gates for the past 7 years, and in fact the gap is widening. With safe standing areas and a policy of charging fair prices in all categories the Bundesliga will continue its trend to attract larger gates than the Premier League.

I read somewhere that the average age of a Premier League fan is 39! that’s no surprise as youngsters can no longer afford to go anymore.

FC Schalke 04 one of the better supported clubs in Germany charge 13 Euros to stand and watch top flight football, that’s cheaper than most Conference teams over here. I’ve seen the argument on another thread that only poorly supported teams can offer affordable prices to their fans, poppycock, Schalke 04 have an average gate of 61,387.

In fact 11 teams in the Bundesliga have average gates over 40,000 compared to 7 in the Premier League.

Borussia Dortmund 74,830
Bayern München 69,000
Schalke 04 61,387
Hamburger SV 54,774
Hertha Berlin 52,157
Stuttgart 51,926
FC Köln 49,312
Borussia Mönchengladbach 47,376
Eintracht Frankfurt 47,012
Hannoverscher 41,860
Werder Bremen 40,473

For the record the average gate in the Bundesliga was 42,565 compared to the Premierships 35,630.

Germany has the highest attendance figures for any league in europe. The tickets are affordable and accessable to all, and as a result their safe standing areas are populated by young and old, it allows the next generation to bloom and carry the flag for their clubs future.

The atmosphere's generated in German stadiums is the best in Europe. Fandom and terrace culture is at an all time high, while at the same time ours is in rapid decline.

I'd swap the footballing super power this country has now become in an instant, if we could replicate what Germany have done with their football.

It's not just about generating the most money for the fat cats and the players. Football is not just about winning at all costs. It's about enjoyment, identity and belonging for me as much as any trophy.

Those German supporters are still seeing their club's win leagues and domestic trophies each season. They are no longer European heavyweights, and that could be attributed to the relative lack of money within their game in comparison to ours; but is a sacrifice of European success for a handful of clubs worth it if it improves the match going experience and enjoyment of an entire nation? Without doubt.

So while millions of German fans are watching their football each weekend with smiles on their faces, and taking their kids along to become a part of their clubs; our children are sat at home watching on the TV as the rich get richer and the suits get to applaud another success on the field, latching onto a club they probably had no interest in 15 years ago, and certainly don't understand what made the club so glamourous and appealing in the first place. The odd European trophy is the only difference between the success of our clubs and the likes of Bayern Munich.

If the price of that success is excluding the next generation of fans and killing fandom for good; then I'd rather not have it.
 

Geez

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Admin
Oct 1, 2003
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And just in case anyone says that the EPL games are shown on TV all round the world, so are the Bundesliga games
 

jolsnogross

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2005
3,729
5,431
Really good column mate, cheers for posting.

We have fellas on here in various threads saying if so-and-so prefers Stuttgart to us, then he's not the calibre of player we need 'cause we're in the best league in the world and he must lack ambition to not want to come to us. Us being an uncompetitive midtable outfit at best. It's the same sort of thinking that touts England as favourites when they get to the Euros or World Cup, only for reality to bite soon after the competition starts.

Several other leagues of lesser wealth are better managed, have a higher technical standard than the EPL, and are very worthy of the success and support they get. The sustainable model of German football is the gold standard at present - theirs is a much more palatable league sturcture without sacrificing for excitement or ability when compared to the indebted and bloated culture developing in England and Spain.

The German rule requiring some sort of financial sustainability sounds very reasonable to me (I think it's something that ensures annual running costs and debt are not allowed to spiral way beyond the income of the club). Alternatively, while a Euro super league sounds like a horrible mess, it may have a positive effect on domestic leagues which could be much more exciting without the typically 2 horse races that abound around Europe. Certainly, I'd ignore a Euro super league full of bloated clubs and be very interested in a more equitable Premier League.
 

JimmyG2

SC Supporter
Dec 7, 2006
15,014
20,779
But the money genie is already out of the bottle here and we are suffocating in our own hype.
Unless it all blows up in their faces as indicated by Davvo in the previous column, or they get bored with playing with football clubs the money men are still with us unfortunately.
We are a well run club financially that has lost its soul to the corporate world and most fans would say that you can't go back. The corporate tail wags the football dogand fans are just revenue streams, one of many and not the most crucial in business terms.
Good to read an analysis of how else it can be done. And remember that Barcelona are owned by their fans and still manage to be the best side in footballing terms in the world and sucessful commercially.
 

striebs

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2004
4,504
667
....So while millions of German fans are watching their football each weekend with smiles on their faces, and taking their kids along to become a part of their clubs; our children are sat at home watching on the TV as the rich get richer and the suits get to applaud another success on the field, latching onto a club they probably had no interest in 15 years ago, and certainly don't understand what made the club so glamourous and appealing in the first place.

Most cannot afford/justify Sky and don't want to let their kids stay up to see MOTD MOTD2 .

If they are lucky they might see snippets on Sunday morning but they won't even get that for Saturday matches .
 

spursphil

Tottenham To The Bone
Aug 8, 2008
517
98
Thanks for the comments lads :)

Last season Wolfsburg won the Bundesliga, their first ever Championship success, prior to last season their highest ever finish was 5th in 2007/08.

Can their league success be copied by a similar club in the Premier League? No way, as true competition has all but gone from our top flight game.

I look back on the days when Brian Clough took 2nd Division teams won promotion and lifted the 1st division title with great fondness. In the case of Forest European glory. Football was the peoples game back then, and is much the poorer under our current set up.

A video made two years ago about cult club FC ST.Pauli then a 3rd division club.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-kl93Husv0
 

fieryjack

Well-Known Member
Jan 13, 2006
3,372
690
Should`ve called Phil, i would`ve backed your argument with cash, we could`ve cleaned up.
I went to the Dortmund friendly 2 years ago and it remains the best ground i`ve been too, including Barca and Real. The atmosphere was rocking for a friendly with "only" 40000 there. This is mainly due to the stands being very close to the pitch and a massive standing area behind one goal. We could do worse than copy it.
 

super_tottenham79

New Member
May 18, 2006
27
0
This reminds me of an article I read a little while back about 'Manufactured Atmosphere.' This combined with what you have written, really makes for a dire future for the EPL. Everything is to contrived to ensure the rich clubs stay richer.
 

Vedi

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2008
1,446
190
Nice column and nice st. pauli vid. Can I ask where you found the figures? I mean did you have a site with all of them there or did you search all figures by yourself with wikipedia etc?
 

Vedi

Well-Known Member
Aug 12, 2008
1,446
190
thank mate, but couldnt find the thing im looking for :( was looking for these kinda figures for former soviet counties during the soviet time, udssr and yugoslavia especially.
 

TheBigMatch

New Member
Sep 12, 2005
820
0
:clap: Excellant work Spursphil.

Hopefully Spurs realise the importance of youth and offer better value for kids in the new stadium. More access via the internet would also help to ensure the next generation of kids become Spurs fans. Every voice is needed.
 

spursphil

Tottenham To The Bone
Aug 8, 2008
517
98
:clap: Excellant work Spursphil.

Hopefully Spurs realise the importance of youth and offer better value for kids in the new stadium. More access via the internet would also help to ensure the next generation of kids become Spurs fans. Every voice is needed.
I would like to see one thing in our new stadium and that would be safe standing.
It works extremly well in Germany, imagine the new Park Lane rocking like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6LFKi6bqvQ

And here is how the do it in Germany, Spurs should lead the way and demand that a safe standing area should be installed for home fans at our new stadium.
http://www.users.bigpond.com/pengweeds/presentation.html
 
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