With ten clubs in the Premier League under foreign ownership we in England tend to review them as a mixed blessing. They have made the league more competitive and thus better, they have brought in big names from other leagues, they have helped promote our league abroad, and, for some fans, have propelled their clubs to heights that they may not have previously thought possible.
But as the dust settles on another price inflating summer and we get down to the season at hand are there more issues that arise as a result of foreign owners? Certainly there have been some radical and unwanted opinions being thrown around recently such as the call for an end to promotion and relegation.
A ridiculous statement that undermines everything the sport stands for. Without the competitive edge sport could not, and would not be the same. Without competition there would be no passion and without the ability for lower league clubs to rise those teams would be condemned to life of mediocrity and subservience to the unattainable heights of the league above.
It has not been announced as to who exactly has called for these changes but personally I can only see it being Blackburn or Sunderland’s owners. Blackburn have been floundering since before they were taken over and are continuing to do so. The owners of both clubs have invested a lot in their teams with little on field success and both have a lot to lose should their early season form pick up.
Always a defendant of anything British, Harry Redknapp has waded into the argument as he told The Telegraph:
“You can’t have to many foreign owners coming in here wanting to change our game. That is where we are at. Eventually they will take the games to where they want to play them. If you have owners from China, India, Russia, America they will take their teams there to play.”
Redknapp goes on to mention how we only need to look at the NFL to see the result of American ownership citing problems such as cheerleaders that could taint the British game.
I must say: I agree with Harry, and it’s not often that I do. But I’m not sure it’s quite as dire a situation as theSpurs manager would have us believe. I personally don’t believe that any English sport could ever convert to anything even close to NFL. The game over there seems to be just part of a show that includes all kinds of other distractions and entertainment. With respect to the American public, I just don’t believe that the British people that go to football games need or want their game to be jazzed up in any way. I know I don’t, and neither does Harry.