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Supporters have more important things to worry about than ball-boys

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FSFThursday morning’s British sporting media was awash with a ball-boy from Swansea. The incident that propelled him into the public spotlight was intertwined with in-depth analysis of what this meant for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. Phone-ins, column inches, television news coverage and social media saw battle lines drawn and led to a topic that was at best trivial turn into a serious defining moment of this football season, if you believed what you were hearing.

This incident took priority over the accomplishment of Swansea, part-owned by the fans, reaching their first major cup final. That in itself is just wrong and an unfortunate but a common example of the way the football press works in this country. Swansea’s story should have understandably taken prominence, but Thursday was potentially an important day for British football yet barely a word was uttered that did not reference a ball-boy.

The first meeting of the Football Supporter’s Federation’s (FSF) ‘Score Campaign: Twenty is Plenty’ was scheduled for Thursday evening in Manchester. This event was the result of the recent £62 ticket return by Manchester City and the aftermath debate played out on fan websites, blogs, fanzines, and Twitter and reported on by the press.

‘Twenty is Plenty’ runs on the basic principle that £20 for a match ticket for away fans, £15 for concessions, is the limit that should be enforced by all clubs in the football league. Part of the reason away fans have been targeted is because of the usual additional costs to attend a match, such as travel expenses, which only gets worse when clubs charge large sums for the ticket itself.

The FSF looks to address the key issues of supporters up and down the country and this meeting was set-up to take the form of an ideas forum, whereby fans can come along and express their opinions and offer possible options and solutions to the issue of rising ticket prices. Another meeting is due to be held this Thursday (31st) in North London to provide the same opportunity for fans in the south of the country.

At this early stage it is difficult to tell if anything will come of these meetings. The cynics have already been out and said ticket prices rising is an unstoppable factor. Whether that is the case or not, the fact that fans have organised this together, in spite of any possible rivalries, can be seen as an important step.

It may lead to nothing for this particular cause, it may be a one-off with no sustainability, but could be the inspiration for campaigns in the future to take off. Unless supporter’s try there will definitely be no change, but whilst there is this movement there is the possibility.

Potentially, Thursday’s meeting was the beginning of something big for fans trying to retain a voice in football. Whilst there are ball-boys to report on it is going to be difficult to get this message out to supporter’s nationwide, but as fans of football it is important to help make others aware of the real issues that need to be discussed.

FSF Score Campaign: Twenty is Plenty meeting: Thursday 31st January at Arsenal Football Supporter’s Club. All information can be found on the FSF website – www.fsf.org.uk

For more from me, find me on Twitter: @dmsmith1987

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