by Rob Ward
For many, it was Sky’s billions which ruined football. The advent of the cash-saturated Premier League saw the working-class masses alienated by playboy players and diving foreigners, with their places in the stands stolen by prawn-sandwich chomping chancers claiming the ‘people’s game’ as their own. But those dewy-eyed romantics would do well to remember the improvements in quality which Murdoch’s millions have brought the game during the last twenty years: free-flowing football, graceful technicians such as Gianfranco Zola, visionary managers like Arsene Wenger, European Cup triumphs for Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Maybe then, the blame for killing our game should be apportioned to those exponents of its dark arts: the divers, injury-feigners and shirt-pullers? Or is it the racists? The fans chanting sick chants about other teams’ tragedies? Is it Manchester United pulling out of the FA Cup? Jim White’s absurd deadline day histrionics? Robbie Savage’s multi-platform media career?
It is none of these.
What ruined football was the internet.
Now, literary arse-gravy like Josh Green’s anti-Manchester United diatribe on this very website is afforded an ill-deserved home. Myopic, impartial, abusive twaddle is given an audience, encouraging equally mis-judged and thoughtless responses which rapidly dissolve into a series of slanging matches, pissing contests and potentially libellous accusations which make everyone involved look positively rabid.
Of course, Mr Green is entitled to his opinion. But his article is based on nothing else. There is no journalistic merit to his rant. No balance. Not even wit or charm. It’s simply a list of grievances, allegations and generalisations linked together with nought but bile. Anyone with a semblance of intelligence could rebut every one of his points at will. Someone with time on their hands might even dash off a quick list of half-truths and conspiracy theories about Josh’s club (Tevez practising his golf swing in Argentina, Balotelli’s many indiscretions, Mancini rumbling with his own players, the manager’s ‘mind games’ in last season’s title race, stadium naming rights sold to the club’s owners at vastly inflated prices, mocking the Munich air disaster and using the ‘they did it first’ defence, Joey Barton’s Hamlet advertisement, Kolo Toure’s second job as a used car salesman, etc…).
Why are the rantings and ramblings of Green provided with a platform? Why has Twitter become a rogue state for petty-minded tribalism? Why are message boards filled with trolls and trouble-causers? And why are rival fans so eager to bite?
Sadly, this abysmal stream of literary detritus exists because the internet is utterly unfiltered. To restrict it would be to deny us our freedom of expression – and our inalienable right stand at a distance, obscured by our Twitter avatars and profile pictures, stirring the sh** and ignoring the stench.
The irony is palpable.
Congratulations Rob, a fantastic article which is so true and i have had the same thoughts.
Good stuff Boy Ward.
For me, it was the loss of standing sections that took us into this new paradigm. Watching the Dortmund fans at the Etihad reminded me of just how far we’ve been diluted.
But I agree with much of the article; I’ve had to unsubscribe to United fan mates – some of which are close friends who I don’t often see so much these days. The reason: their anti-City comments would cause me to flip out and instigate what would often descend into a public argument; and one which I’m be embarrassed about afterwards. I’ve replied (in an argumentative sense) to Tweets of people I don’t know, become embroiled in disagreements on countless threads and God knows what else.
I’m working on the problem.
I’m in a similar situation, although the main culprits among my friends are Leeds and Liverpool fans. Their tribalism and myopia when it comes to football is astounding – and remarkable given their ability to function like civil human beings in other areas of their lives. Perhaps they always acted this way, but i’m convinced it’s the relative anonymity of Twitter which gives them the bravado they need to abuse players, share contentious tweets and act like louts.
Perhaps Sky and the tabloid media are partly to blame too, with the hysteria they attach to every football story giving people the perfect excuse to be outraged. That said The Guardian’s comment section is often filled with similar bile and rage and their coverage is fair and balanced.
Whatever the reason for it, I find it genuinely depressing.
Nicely written article Rob and I understand your stance on the internet and agree with it in some ways. I agree with you that my article was more of a rant and a rant that caused a reaction.
“Firstly, I would like to start off by saying I have met and spoken to some decent United fans who you can have a fair chat about football with”
A sentence regarding United fans in my ‘rant’.
Of course you are going to disagree with my opinion, you are a Manchester United fan, you have probably dedicated a lot of time and effort into supporting them so it wouldn’t be in your interest to admit they really are a horrible business.
Good read nonetheless, hopefully the internet proves you wrong and is a major factor into gathering fans together and changing Premier League tickets prices.
Thanks for replying to my “arse-gravy”
To be fair, I’d have written that response if your article had attacked Spurs/Hull City/Inverness Caledonian Thistle. It wasn’t so much the attack on United that bothered me as the general tone of the article.
And the quote you supplied above hardly balances your article, does it?
That said, your aim was to get a bite and provoke a reaction, and you’ve done a sterling job of that. Well done.