Fitbas F@cked

[The_Moog]

Anyone who's ever had non-cooncil TV packages is complicit. That's where the dosh has come from.

FUUCK YOU MURDOCH

Yep - this. I dont have Sky Sports (used to) and dinna miss it in the slightest.

I do have BT Sport currently as I get it with my phone & Broadband package for £3 per month. I've kept it since they started charging a couple of years ago as at least they've given a pretence of giving a f'uck about Scottish fitba the last few years & covering more than just the ugly sisters.

End of next season when they lose Scottish fitba rights its gone though. I'll be cancelling.

I could afford Sky Sports, but the money being chucked about down south is obscene (unless we get a big slice of the pie for Fraser & McKenna of course ) and I simply refuse to be part of it. I dont understand why so many people are happy to fork out for this abomination if I'm honest.

As for the thread title, fitba was f'ucked the minute the "champions" league came into existence. Its just many of us didnt see it at the time - I certainly didnt. Gradually ever since the power and money has been massively shifted to the elite few & f'uck the rest of us.

They've pretty much got their European super league now with the way the Champions league slots are allocated. The only good thing about it is it tends to shaft Timothy as they are seen as one of the diddy clubs which is very amusing.

The fact its an absolute borefest until the quarter finals - ironically because even at that level the way its financed & seeded means little competition for the biggest 8-10 clubs - is irrelevant to UEFA & the big clubs as long as the dosh keep rolling in.

Successful & exciting sport is based on uncertainty & competition. Without that you have very little "product" to sell. Its a big part of the problem up here. The Americans realise this - despite being the most selfish capitalist nation on earth - & actively encourage competition & uncertainty in their main sports with their draft system & wage caps. Funnily enough they have the biggest commerical TV deals on the planet despite nobody outside the US really actually playing any of their main sports to any great degree.

The closed shop euro league for the biggest 18-20 clubs will happen - probably because people will eventually get bored with the procession to the quarter finals that the champions league has already become - but whilst English football especially is seen as the trendy must have plaything of the global financial elite, nothing will change anytime soon.

So just do your bit & dont fund it folks....

[57vintage]

As my mantra goes - "If it's nae the Dons or Keith, I dinna give a fuuck".

I told some erse* years ago, when he was going on about looking forward to a European semi-final on the telly, that I have no reference points or buy-in to the level of fitba where it is Sponsor's Name On The Shirt FC v Different Sponsor's Name On The Shirt FC.

International fitba is merely a hindrance nowadays. When games used to be played midweek, there was no fannying with the bread and butter fixture list to please the fannies who follow this irrelevance.

*he was a season ticket holder at Tannadice and as thick as stovies in a flask (tautology tautology right there)

[Jackjarvis]

As my mantra goes - "If it's nae the Dons or Keith, I dinna give a fuuck".

I told some erse* years ago, when he was going on about looking forward to a European semi-final on the telly, that I have no reference points or buy-in to the level of fitba where it is Sponsor's Name On The Shirt FC v Different Sponsor's Name On The Shirt FC.

International fitba is merely a hindrance nowadays. When games used to be played midweek, there was no fannying with the bread and butter fixture list to please the fannies who follow this irrelevance.

*he was a season ticket holder at Tannadice and as thick as stovies in a flask (tautology tautology right there)

No point in sitting on the fence young man, how are Keith looking for the upcoming season?

[Pacman1903]

As for the thread title, fitba was f'ucked the minute the "champions" league came into existence.

Funny you say that. As the England v Holland game was on here . There was a minutes silence for Lennart Johansson and I said "that man is a f@cking c@nt up there with the worst. He ruined football for good. I wouldn't be silent for him". Nobody got it. Around me were numerous guffs Liverpool fans, Manure fan, Middlesbrough fan, Newcastle fan and when I explained he was the main man in sanctioning the Champions League and they still didn't get it barring the Boro fan. Does that just mean that this obscene money is just the norm for guffs these days. It has to implode one day and I will laugh myself into a permanent state of schadenfreude

[mastrick1960]

I think that's why I have found myself dropping down the leagues to watch games these days because there is a sense of the old school to it. The soul is still there.No glitter and glamour. Id much rather go to a junior game or a lower division game than watch European fitba. Its turned into a hobby and father son bonding too which is an added bonus. But that wasn't the aim. I was just fed up of modern fitba. Last season I went to Caley v Ross County cup replay on a Champions League night. 2-2 and into pens. It was a f@cking excellent game and a great advert for Scottish football. That night Liverpool played Bayern and Lyon played Barcelona and they were both 0-0. Me and Jnr were treated to a cracking cup tie that nobody apart from the 3608 at the Caley stadium saw as it wasn't allowed on the telly. I was at Blairgowrie Juniors and got a 4-3 with Forfar West End on another champions League night, Forfar West End on another Champions League night and got a 4-4 with Tayport which was by far the best game I witnessed last season.

People are thick and believe that multi multi million pound players make entertainment. Its a fallacy. More often than not these days the high profile games are sh@te. World Cup final was crap, the two European finals were slated for being sh@te

Bring on Dunipace Juniors, Blyth Spartans, New Elgin, Kelty Hearts and Alloa and probably more this time home.

I took my team to play at Blairgowrie juniors ground a couple of weeks ago ...the old stand the runs along the touch line is fvcking ace...looks like it is away to fall down ...

No concrete just sand under your feet...
Brilliant

[Pacman1903]

I took my team to play at Blairgowrie juniors ground a couple of weeks ago ...the old stand the runs along the touch line is fvcking ace...looks like it is away to fall down ...

No concrete just sand under your feet...
Brilliant

Used to be a seated stand but new regs led to them having to rip them out

The empty beer bottles in it added to the character

[BogBrush1903]

The closed shop euro league for the biggest 18-20 clubs will happen - probably because people will eventually get bored with the procession to the quarter finals that the champions league has already become - but whilst English football especially is seen as the trendy must have plaything of the global financial elite, nothing will change anytime soon.

So just do your bit & dont fund it folks....

But they are trying to make changes now to be implemented in 2024 that will ensure qualification for the Chumps League for the same 24 teams from the five 'top' leagues ensuring that even if, for example, Chelsea finished in the bottom half of their domestic league they will still qualify for this racket.

They're speaking about a Europa League 2 thus making a Europa League 1 effectively a Chumps League 2. Therefore, creating a pool of around the Top 50 teams in Europe with most coming from the five (English, German, Spanish, Italian and French) but the others made up from the big fishes in the smaller leagues, possibly including Tweedle Dee and maybe Tweedle Dum.

We saw what happened to the English FA Cup when it was devalued by Manchester United by the World Club Championship. I think there's every chance, if this format is approved, it will create a two tier European Super League with domestic leagues including those in the top 5 leagues becoming reduced and eventually reshaped to something unrecognisable to us today.

I'm convinced these changes will be the death of international football.

[deaconred]

Scottish teams had a fair degree of success in European competition in the 60s. Clubs like Celtic and Rangers realised tho that, to maintain the ability to compete, they needed more money. At that time TV money was not an option - the main source of cash was the attendance money. Up until then, the attendance money of any game was split evenly (after expenses) between the home and away team. This provided a great subsidy for smaller clubs - they would get 50% of gate receipts from visits to Celtic Park, Ibrox, Pittodrie, Tynecastle and Easter Road. The 18 team first division was ideal for distributing income throughout the rest of the game. Transfer fees tended to be paid by bigger clubs to smaller clubs - Dunfermline built their main stand using money from a transfer. They also sold two players to Rangers in the mid-60s - Alex Smith and Alex Ferguson - which broke the transfer record. The game in Scotland was in a decent state. In the years from 1950 to 1965, Hibs, Hearts, Aberdeen, Dundee, Kilmarnock all won the league. The Cups were also well distributed.

Europe changed that. The bigger clubs (Huns and Hooped Huns in particular) wanted more money as they saw Europe as the place to be competing in. Other clubs (us, Hearts, Hibs, Dundee, United) tagged along thinking only of themselves and the promised land of keeping all your gate money to yourself. Bad move. They also decided to go for a top 10 - more meaningful games (translated - more money for us playing 4 home games each season against the Old Firm and keeping all the money). What happened was that they created a duoply where the Cheeks had access to much more resources than anyone else and so won all the trophies.

Bosman brought about a collapse of the transfer market and another source of finance was lost. (Unless you had a player Ebbe fancied).

This whole scenario was then repeated in Europe - the rich wanted more power and control. I think it was maybe 86 that Juventus were paired with Real in the first rund of the old European Cup. One of them had to go and the other was not happy. There were threats of Packer-style breakaway European leagues which forced UEFA into introducing the Champions League where everything was done for the benefit of the top teams, the top leagues in order to keep them sweet. Everybody else became a backwater. Ajax - one minute away from the final this year - forced into the preliminary round next season.

In both Scotland and Europe the rich have got richer whilst the poor are poorer. Most domestic leagues in Europe are now dominated by one or two teams - Bayern, Juventus, Barca, Benfica, Man City, Dhims, Ajax, PSG. Many of the kids (that used to wander around with Cheek tops on) are now wearing Barcelona, Juventus and Real tops - and yet would never think of going along to watch their local Highland League team. It's like proclaiming unending love for Paloma Faith (?) whilst ignoring all the local talent.

Solution? Let them go. Let UEFA create an actual two-tier European League which takes the top teams away from the domestic game. Tax the participants heavily and put the money back into the domestic leagues.

I'm not really too bothered by the quality of football I watch as it is only part of the reason I go - drinking with mates, going to new grounds, travelling in Europe are all more important. So, I'd much rather watch a Dundee v Aberdeen match where both teams had a chance of winning the Scottish League than watch the Celtic Superstars romping home every year.

Alternative? Football is fecked.

[Pacman1903]

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Good post Deacon min

[Mason89]

I’ve got no interest in European football, including Aberdeen. I’d much rather the club arranged a pre season friendly for optimal foreign boozing, than playing qualifiers.