Think big money is destroying football? You are in the minority

Pretty much all the Aston Villa
fans you'll find in Kathmandu

As the European football season gets underway and the transfer window closes, every year a slew of articles spring-up chastising the orgy of spending by the big clubs and make dire predictions of fan revolt and how football will be damaged beyond repair by big money.

I say phooey! The fact is the great majority of football fans pretty much support the 10 to 12 super clubs out there. All the minnow sides combined only account for a small minority of fans. A great example of this was a few days back when I attended a gathering of Aston Villa supporters in Kathmandu (I’m a proud Villan!). All together there were 3 of us at the meeting. On my way to the event I probably passed about a dozen people on the street wearing shirts of Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal and the likes.

Other than perhaps a handful of Manchester United fans distraught that Manchester City now has the same financial muscle as them, I doubt it is much of a stretch to say those super club fans are not in any despair about big money in football. On the contrary, fans of clubs like Real Madrid are probably sprinting to a local printing shop to get JAMES printed on the back of their jerseys.