The cost of football, is it really worth it?

With unemployment rising, inflation rising and salaries being frozen, it still surprises many that football appears to be unaffected by the economic crisis that still looms large over England.

This week figures released showed that clubs across the country were making some efforts to reduce the cost of a matchday, however ticket prices were still the highest across Europe.

Season ticket prices in England did rise by nearly 4%, however matchday ticket prices did show a drop in price, but was it enough?

Many fans will be grateful for the small drop in price, however Supporters Federation Chairman Malcolm Clarke said enough wasn't done:

"The Premier League has had an eye-watering increase in its media income. For example, they could knock £50 off the price of every single ticket of every single game for every single spectator in the Premier League this season and still have the same amount of money as they previously had.

"Our message to the Premier League is 'you have huge money, you have done a bit but you can do much more'." he added.

Of course this year saw the start of a new mega-billion TV deal between media partners and the Premier League. The deal, believed to be worth around £3 Billion is the largest in Premier League history, however hasn't forced the change in ticket prices some fans thought it might.

In Southampton, some fans thought the price of football was too high and the game was moving away from supporters and closer to businesses and media.

Jack, 21 said: "The Premier League should force a cap on what teams can charge, the fans are suffering while clubs continue to spend crazy money on transfers. It is not fair."

This summer saw English clubs spend over £600 Million between them as they made the most of the new TV deal payments.

Despite many fans feeling they are charged too much for 90 minutes of football, some fans are only too happy to pay whatever to see their side. 45 year old Rob from Southampton has been following the Saints since he was 16 and told us he would pay whatever to see his beloved side.

"It is a passion, you pay whatever. I love watching Southampton and the cost is fine. You get more than 90 minutes of football today, you get entertainment, an atmosphere, the whole package."

Asked if he would be happy if Southampton raised ticket prices again next season he said:

"It would annoy some but I think to stay competitive we have to increase prices now and then. If it helped us get into Europe because we could afford that star player would people moan then?"

The debate rages on, does football in England cost the fans too much? Should clubs reduce ticket prices further or are they justified in what they charge?

Win a World Cup by 2022? On your bike Dyke

FA Chairman Greg Dyke this afternoon set England a challenge to win a World Cup by the year 2022, as part of the countries need to reform the national game, but was his challenge a step too far?

Every two years, expectant England fans (myself included) claim that 'this is our time', and yet time and time again we are left to bemoan and blame everyone but ourselves. Whether it be a dodgy referee, a freak goal or those dreaded penalties it never seems to be England's fault.

However, that all changed today a tiny bit as FA Chairman Dyke admitted that English football needed reforming to avoid "letting down the country and thousands of England football fans." The main issue seems obvious, however not so easy to approach. Last season just 32% of players in the Premier League were eligible to play for the England national side.

So how does the FA suggest we deal with this? Send your answers on a postcard as no explanation or plan was given other than a need "to work closely with the Premier League to deal with this frightening trend." A 'frightening trend' indeed, in 1995 just under 50% of players were English.

The warning from Dyke that things needed sorting was music to many ears, his next statement was not so. "I set a target that we win a World Cup by 2022." While extremely optimistic, it begs the question as to whether Dyke has completely misunderstood the challenge that faces him.

To reform the English national side, plans need to be drawn up to change the philosophy of the players. This plan needs to be implemented into players from as young of six or seven, allowing them to progress with a clear vision. The average age of a winning World Cup side is 27, so any hopes of winning a World Cup within 20 years seem unlikely.

Dyke of course should be congratulated for setting targets, something that has been missed by his predecessors, however his outlandish target seems to have overshadowed his much needed announcement.

Any plans to enhance the performance of our national side are welcome and I look forward to seeing what the FA and Premier League plan, however after the transfer window just slammed shut with a record amount spent on transfers, I can't see the Premier League accepting any proposals which will be detrimental to the worlds greatest league.

What would you say is the way forward for English football?

Depression: A worrying rise

It has always been recognised that woman were twice as likely to become depressed, however since the economic struggle the number of suicides from men has risen and is likely to continue to do so according to the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Depression has no particular cause; however it is believed that marriage problems, unemployment, money worries and divorce are all considered to be major factors behind a man becoming depressed.

So what makes a footballer depressed? For the majority of us the life of a footballer is seen as the ‘perfect’ job, a huge salary, playing football for a living, celebrity lifestyle and ladies falling at your feet, sounds perfect right? So what caused the likes of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts and Gary Speed all to take their own lives?

Research has shown that men are three times likely to take their own lives when suffering with depression. The world of football was rocked again last week when 42 year old Wales manager Gary Speed was found hanging at his Cheshire home. It is still unclear what drove to Speed to deciding that his life was no longer worth living. Last year Rushden and Diamonds goalkeeper Dale Roberts was found in his home hanging after his fiancé’s affair with John Terry’s brother was publicised. The ‘embarrassment’ of the affair and an on-going leg injury drove Roberts to committing the act that brought his life to a premature end.

The first footballer to commit suicide though was German goalkeeper Robert Enke who in 2009 threw his body in front of a fast moving train as he looked to escape the struggle that he had battled with for so long. Recently a book titled ‘A life too short- The tragedy of Robert Enke’ tells the compelling and emotional stories of Enke and how he struggled with the fear of making mistakes, avoiding public ridicule and fear of job security as he was constantly linked with moves to other sides across Europe.

Throughout my research for this blog I found that the media were becoming more compassionate towards male suicide and more understanding, so I was surprised to come across Jeremy Clarkson’s comments this week saying that people that commit suicide are ‘selfish’. Here is a man that earns millions from a contract with the BBC with the money that we pay them with our T.V licences, here is a man that is able to voice his opinion to millions of people through whichever media platforms are stupid enough to give the moron airtime. I hope Jeremy Clarkson never has to deal with anything that the families of Robert Enke, Dale Roberts, Gary Speed and the thousands of other suicide victims go through.

What makes the stories of these high profile cases and in fact any suicide attempt is that the victim sees ending their life as the only way out when the reality is that there are lots of people that would love to be able to help their loved ones. Whatever it was that drove Gary Speed to kill himself last week, finally male depression is getting the awareness it now deserves. There are men out their suffering and the Speed case highlights how it could literally be anyone, even your loved one.

Suicide isn’t ‘selfish’ or ‘cowardly’ and depression is nothing to be ashamed of. Any one that is feeling depressed or struggling to cope with life should seek advice immediately.

Here is a website for people that are finding it difficult to cope- http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/problems/depression/mendepression.aspx 

Football unites to pay respect to Gary Speed

“My Captain, my hero, my mate”, that was one of many tributes that’s flooded in today as the footballing world come to grips with the death of Wales, Leeds, Newcastle and Everton legend Gary Speed at the tender age of 42.

At 7:08 on Sunday 27^th November 2011 Speed’s body was found hanging at his Cheshire home and football had lost a legend. The one question that remains is why? It is one question that may never be answered; here was a man that had his dream job, a highly successful career, a wife and two young children. Speed was slowly changing the fortunes of the Wales side and four wins from their last five games, including a 4-1 win over Norway in his last game proved that.

Craig Bellamy, Speed’s team mate and friend and one of Speed’s players in the Wales squad was today withdrawn from the Liverpool squad ahead of their clash with Manchester City, meanwhile, Shay Given was left in tears as the crowd at the Liberty Stadium before the fixture before Swansea and Aston Villa turned the minutes silence into a minutes applause, leaving the Villa goalkeeper struggling to play after the pair spent six seasons together at Newcastle.

Former Wales’s team mate John Hartson was left ‘Devastated’, while the man who gave Speed his first Wales cap Bobbie Gould said “Tears had been shed”. The sheer volume of tributes make it all more emotional, here was a man that was loved as player, manager, husband and father and that will never be forgotten.

We may never know what drove Speed to hang himself today, however, it has shocked the footballing world and will undoubtedly raise awareness amongst people that no matter how good someone life looks from the outside, we never truly knows what lies beneath. One thing that we are sure of though is that today football lost a true gent and model professional.

RIP Gary Speed, you will be missed.

What are your favourite memories of Gary Speed? As always let me know.

Follow me on Twitter @RyanDay100

Has racism been shown the red card yet?

‘Let’s kick racism out of football’ was set up in 1993 to do exactly that, but in this blog I pose the question, has racism been kicked out of English football?

The Premier League is currently investigating two cases of racism after Manchester United defender Patrice Evra accused Liverpool striker Luis Suarez of abusing him in their 1-1 clash at Anfield two weeks ago. Last week saw Chelsea defender John Terry also accused of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

It would be wrong for me to suggest that either of the two alleged players are racists until the full reports are published, but quite frankly I find the fact that allegations like this are even being made in 2011 is sickening.  The Premier League currently has its highest percentage of foreign and black players in its 10 year history and it brands itself as the world’s biggest league, if that’s the case then any proof of racism should be met with the heaviest sanctions.

But are we right to assume that eradicating racism from football is possible? Bearing in mind we live in a society where people are quick to judge and mindless thugs continue to wander the streets of our ‘Great Britain’. John Barnes, racially abused while playing for England in the 80’s said recently that we were silly to believe that racism had been kicked out of football and he himself questioned whether it ever would be.

Contradicting that view though was manager of Manchester United now for 25 years, Sir Alex Ferguson. Sir Alex said he was ‘surprised’ that there were two cases being investigated, and ‘hoped’ there would never be a third.

It is clear that some western European countries still struggle at large with racism in football. Spain and Russia have received heavy sanctions from FIFA in years gone by as ‘punishment’ for their part in racist taunts, but is England in danger of slipping back to the dark days of the 80’s when black England players were abused by their own fans?

Thankfully I think we are not set to slip back to them ways. We are a nation that has currently possess some great black footballers, as well as having the most entertaining league in the world that involves some of the greatest foreign players of the modern era, and losing that over racism would be ridiculous, suicidal and damn right pathetic.

I hope that in both cases being investigated that both alleged offenders are found not guilty for the sake of the image of English football. It is true that England leads the way in the fight against racism; however, I fear that if Terry or Suarez are found guilty then our image as a nation is tarnished.

Do you agree? Is racism still happening in our game today or do you think we have ‘kicked it out’? If found guilty, how should Terry or Suarez be dealt with?

As always let me know.