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Attendances in the English Premiership must be the envy of many clubs from other countries. But while Manchester United can boast an average crowd of 75,000 plus (earning the club more than £2 million a game: around € 3m: on gate receipts alone) and Arsenal over 60,000 in their brand new Emirates Stadium (both clubs filling almost 100% of their seats every match), other, smaller clubs are beginning to experience a bit of a crisis.
Although Blackburn Rovers, from the north-west of England, won the title in 1994-95, aided by Chairman Jack Walker’s millions, it is essentially a small town club, ‘condemned’ to exist in the shadow of teams like Manchester United and Liverpool. Rovers’ ground, Ewood Park, with a capacity of 31,000, sees an average of only 21,000 at Premiership games: a take-up of around 68%. The club’s Directors have heard the alarm bells and are reacting; they are going to use the cushion of the extra revenue from the Premiership’s new TV deal to try to reverse the fall in attendances. “Our view is that some of this new money must be returned to our supporters in admission prices," the club's chief executive, John Williams, says. "Most clubs, apart from the biggest, have a problem with crowds, and it’s crucial that the game remains a live spectacle."
Indeed, some observers point to the cost of watching football as one of the main factors for fans staying away; a father taking his son to a Premiership game will not have much change out of £100 (€150) after he has paid for travel, the tickets (the cheapest seats), a match programme and a half-time snack and drink. The people who don’t worry about the expense are the higher-earning middle-classes, who, some say, are taking over the stadiums. This in turn leads to a less exciting atmosphere at games, especially since stadiums are now all-seater. There is also the question of how much football is being televised: people can stay at home and watch their team … and they can stay out of the rain in the process. And finally … the Premiership is perhaps becoming a little predictable. “Most people can name at the beginning of the season who the top four clubs will be,” says John Williams. Fans of smaller clubs, knowing that the most they can expect is a mid-table place, are less keen to spend so much money on watching their team.
Speaking of which, the top four in the Premiership remain the same: Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. Manchester United demolished Tottenham 4-0 at White Hart Lane, their first goal scored by Cristiano Ronaldo from the penalty spot after he had been ‘fouled’ in the area (the replays showed he had not). It was his fifteenth goal of the season, meaning he has already won a bet he had with manager Sir Alex Ferguson. The £500 he won is probably the equivalent of about ten minutes’ work for him, but it will keep him in chocolate eggs (his favourite) for a week or so.
The picture at the bottom of the table is looking increasingly black for West Ham, Charlton and Watford, who all lost. The team above them, Wigan, won their first league game after eight straight defeats, 1-0 at home to high-flying Portsmouth. They are now five points clear of the drop zone with a game in hand on the bottom three.
It was Cup day in Scotland. Celtic won 4-1 at Scottish First Division (second tier) side Livingston. Dunfermline, bottom of the Scottish Premier League, provided the (minor) upset of the day, beating Hearts 1-0. Celtic travel to chilly Inverness in the quarter-finals, while Dunfermline are at home to Partick Thistle. Without Rangers, who were knocked out by Dunfermline in the third round, the way seems clear for Celtic to go on and win the League and Cup double … unless Dunfermline can pull a couple more rabbits out of their hat.
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