Football Focus

[Mick Mac]

English presence in the top 10 rose from four teams to five, from six to eight in the top 20, and eight to 14 in the top 30. To put that into context, it means Stoke, Sunderland and Swansea all generated more revenue than storied clubs such as Porto, Lazio, Corinthians and Celtic

Edited to add - we should not be proud of this particularly as we all (or most of us) pay for all of this through the Sky rip off subscriptions. No other country settles for the cost of provision.

[Otta]

Following on from that you could argue that we pay for it with our beer money, because the pubs that show it have to pay so much for the Sky license.

[red devil]

Mick Mac Wrote:

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> No other country settles for the cost of provision.

Not sure what you mean Mick, can you elaborate please?

I thought the TV money was negotiated as a collective by the PL, and then distributed amongst the clubs dependent on TV showings and final league positions, whereas in Spain it's negotiated club by club, meaning Madrid and Barca get the lion's share regardless, thus maintaining their hegemony.

I'm no fan of all the money sloshing around the game at the moment, but I think one upshot is that the PL seems to have become far more competitive with the so called lesser clubs getting this fairer share of the TV money.

Wasn't there a stat last season (the first year of the new Sky deal), that Cardiff, who were relegated, received more ?? than Man Utd did when we won the PL the season before under the old deal?...

[spaul88]

its all about money.

[Alan Medic]

I think you could picked a better list of storied clubs Mick.

[Mick Mac]

That's right RD - its good that's its shared - but when Stoke, who have never won anything to my knowledge, are generating more income than for example Porto, twice European champions and in the champions league on a regular basis makes you wonder who is paying for all of this Stoke money - someone is paying over the market rate somewhere and guess what it's football fans paying through the nose for TV and tickets.

We stupidly accept it and say how brilliant our league is - but we are just paying into the EPL via Sky etc and the clubs pass that money out to overpaid players.

People crow about best league in the world, but that's just us being suckers. The EPL and Sky are together the most expertly marketed product in the world of football, and we are the customer.

[????]

Stoke won the League Cup in the 70s they knocked out West Ham in an epic semi-final in which Bobby Moore had to go in goal and saved a penalty (the save of the penalty may be my memory going)

[Alan Medic]

He did, sort of.

[Alan Medic]

The Italian league which was once considered the best has gone downhill. Seems even Milan sold their team bus to save money. The leagues that have the money usually have the best teams. It was more even in the past where most teams were made up of players from their own country as extra money by going abroad wasn't a lure. Television and the money it generates has changed everything.

In the long term it will have an adverse effect as what would be the young supporters of today and the fans of tomorrow find it too expensive to attend games. Crowds will eventually dwindle at matches and too much football on TV will affect advertising revenue as people get bored watching so much football. Half full stadiums don't look good on tele and it will become less attractive to the TV companies as less people watch. We may eventually get back to the stage where players are paid a less than stupid wage and less players go abroad.

[Mick Mac]

Lets hope so.

[Otta]

That Dunn in the Cambridge goal has some good reflexes.

[Mick Mac]

Strange result.

[Jah Lush]

Not really. It's the FA Cup. Anything can happen.

[Otta]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30962427

Not entirely sure how the ref was against them.

[Mick Mac]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> Not really. It's the FA Cup. Anything can happen.

No shit Sherlock....

:) smiley added

[Alan Medic]

Quote of the year Mr.Lush. I can't help laughing especially at Chelsea and Man.City whose preparation was a holiday.

[????]

Chelsea, City, Spuds...Ha Ha Ha

[Mick Mac]

The big clubs don't give a hoot about the FA Cup, unless they accidentally make it to the semi finals...

[????]

Job Done

[Otta]

I don't know if Liverpool count as a big club, but I think they wanted it yesterday and fielded a pretty strong team from what they have. So pleased Sturridge is due back, but we need more than just him.

[????]

Mick's confusing the Mickey Mouse competitions north of the Border with our fine English ones

[Jah Lush]

Alan Medic Wrote:

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> Quote of the year Mr.Lush. I can't help laughing

> especially at Chelsea and Man.City whose

> preparation was a holiday.

Thank you. You're welcome.

[jackwelts]

who is still left in the cup?

[Parkdrive]

???? Wrote:

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> Chelsea, City, Spuds...Ha Ha Ha

Chelsea bringing on Hazard at 2-2 to change the game, and the game certainly did change..........for the worse

[StraferJack]

The Amex stadium is a 10 minute drive away from me but I couldn?t get tickets

Game was on BT sport so had to watch it in the pub

Couldn?t get in to any pubs in Lewes until gone 3pm ? home and away supporters were out in force and a cracking atmosphere around town

Had to do my old ?watching Arsenal in an away pub? routine from my East Ham days (supporters were friendly ? I just didn?t want to antagonise)

I like Hughton a lot and wanted us to win, but not to inflict reputational damage on him ? so was well pleased by the end of the day