Richard Scudamore... Where did it all go wrong?
To say that Richard Scudamore has become an infamous figure in domestic football would be a gross understatement. As the race for the Premier League hots up, a certain unnamed newspaper columnist put his weight firmly behind the camp of Crystal Palace in their assault on the play-offs last weekend. His reasoning? Scudamore's allegiance to Bristol City.
Only a couple of years ago, ask the average Joe at a Premier League game who Richard Scudamore was and you wouldn't get much of a response. It says a lot about his growing infamy in the interim, produced by a number of ridiculous decisions by the Premier League CEO.
He is not the most popular man in British Football presently, and with good reason. Where to start? Sheffield United's extremely contentious relegation after the Tevez saga while the preposterous "39th Game" idea which should have been dead in the water long before making it to the press. Scudamore's apparent obsession with making the Premiership into a money-making franchise is not something that you would perhaps associate with someone who supports a Football League side.
You'd think that being a Bristol City fan, watching us compete in obscurity for a large part of the past 30 years, when we finally reach the pinaccle of the Championship and jump accross the huge abyss and into the green grass of the Premier League, he would like to think we have a chance of staying there. The truth is, no matter how long we stay in this league and build a team, we will always struggle to maintain a place in the Premier League. Of those promoted to the Premiership in the past 5 years, only Sunderland, Portsmouth, Wigan, West Ham and Reading remain. Leicester, promoted in 2003, will be playing their football in League 1 next season.
Kevin Keegan recently said of the Premier League, "This league is in danger of becoming one of the most boring but great leagues in the world." There has not been much argument with this (bar from Scudamore!); the teams coming up are, more often than not, those who occupy the relegation places the following season, and the top 4 have been pretty much the same top 4 (bar 3/20 anomolies) for the past 5 years. And Scudamore cannot shy away from the blame for this; he is going out of his way to make the Premier League a richer place with the '39th game' shambles and in scrapping any plans from UEFA for a Champions League Spot (and much needed revenue) to come from an FA Cup title is keeping the domination of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in tact.
So we've got 2 teams in the final of the Champions League? Great, for the top 4. The gap widens, for the rest of us. Even if we do stay up next season, if we win promotion, the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, will always be a million miles away from us.
I think I'm right in saying that there aren't many Bristol City fans who wish to be associated with Mr Scudamore at this moment.
The FA Cup winning team should never get a place in the champions league as it would devalue the whole tournament.
The only way to break the 'big 4' is to reduce the intake to 3 from the premierleague. Ideally, it would be top 2 champs league, 3rd - 6th Uefa Cup. This would make the UEFA cup a stronger tournament and wouldn't allow for all the top players to only consider playing for Champs League clubs.
Posted by: Andy | May 10, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Scudamore got put in his place of power by the football clubs, so he is only doing what they want, and what makes the clubs happy. If you want anyone to point the finger at, point it at the fans? We fans let the football league take advantage of our passion and loyalty. The consequences of this are high ticket prices and the under-development of our youth players.
Is it any wonder that the people who run our clubs are profit vampires who are just looking to suck the blood out of the cash cow that is our beloved football teams when we allow them to treat us like dirt. Like a wife who sticks by her cheating husband, us fans need to understand that you aren't necessarily being a good fan if you stick by your club even if they miss treat you. Scudamore is part of our game because we have allowed him to be, because if you allow a vampire to come into your home, expect to get bit.
Posted by: Joseph | May 10, 2008 at 07:27 AM
It is not the fault of Mr Scudamore that he is not a household name amongst the average joes' at a Premier League game. He is starting out on a second career; as a jockey he was second to very few over the years. Of course the Premier League is dominated by a few teams, with the present structure it always will be. The fact is there has been an irrevocable move toward a small group of clubs dominating English football ever since the home team got to keep all of their home gate receipts. I do not recall Mr Scudmaore even being a jockey in those days. Having said that football does seem to have changed his personality somewhat.
Posted by: Martin Peeper | May 10, 2008 at 02:03 AM
Don't forget West Ham in that list of promoted teams since 2003 in the Premier League.
Edited, cheers :)
Posted by: Dan | May 09, 2008 at 05:21 PM
I really detest Scudamore and his pals, as for him beiing a Bristol City fan I would love to ask him to name five of their players and see how well he gets ons. I bet he would struggle.
Posted by: Liam Green | May 09, 2008 at 11:54 AM
The FA Cup should never get a champions league spot. That tournament is already devalued by having the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best teams in it. What would happen if Man Utd won the League and beat Millwall in the FA Cup? Do you suggest they be made our Champs league representatives?
What keeps the 'top 4' intact is the very fact that there are FOUR places available for the champs league. They basically fight to win the league but accept that champs league is guaranteed. If we only had 3 representatives then it might impact on a top 4 club who would lose out on revenue and have to be more cautious with their spending.
Posted by: Andrew Emmett | May 09, 2008 at 11:20 AM