I suspected this might happen - but it probably qualifies him for the ownership, judging by a lot of footy club owners. And, losing cash hand over fist, where next for Leeds?
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The game is now less "participated in" than Athletics, Cycling and Swimming (people taking part for more than 30 minutes per week, according to the Active Sports survey). For me the question really is why an association with an annual turnover of £300 million should be getting so much public money for its grassroots programme. The report then adds the usual grumble that the public grounds it uses are becoming more expensive but worse quality. But, at grassroots level, the FA is like a cuckoo in the nest of other sports, voracious in its demands for dedicated facilities but totally unwilling to give anything back.
hock:
So by using the word generally we can assume he means it's only a competition sometimes.
With regard to the Tuesday night stated referee performance, may I refer back only a matter of a few days when a referee awarded no less than THREE penalties against Manchester United...and at Old Trafford at that..
I will cite an example of how, in commercial terms, how a brand can be very much damaged by ongoing events. Look at the Co-operative Society movement and the damage now caused to it by the personal actions of the senior person in their banking division which has now left an organisation of historical standing and a reputation for ethical banking in the desperate position in which it now finds itself.
Professional football at Premier League standard is naught but a TOTALLY capital-and-debt driven commercial entity and can rightly be compared to other such organisations. To regard football as a sport that supporters go to enjoy their tribalistic pleasure is to hark back to the days of packed standing terraces with rattles and football favours much to the fore, when the highlight was the half-time visit to the urinals, then off to the rickety stall that sold hot pies and Bovril/Oxo, without any use of hand-washing facilities.
I speak as one who saw his first match in the year of the Coronation, so can call upon some sixty years of experience of football, rugby union and rugby league.
Trust SS4's mob to get hammered 4-1 by Manchester United earlier today - this now falls into the category of an embarrassing defeat for any visitor to Old Trafford to succumb so easily.
