Franchise Football Now!

A revelation has struck me, a moment of Paulian clarity regarding English football. English football needs to be franchised. Often when we look across the pond at our North American cousins we mock the idea of the franchise. We can not understand a league that has no promotion or relegation. Or a city that can just buy a sporting heritage.

I always thought their was something strange about this concept and thought this would never translate to this side of the Atlantic, with our traditions and national game rooted in the heritage of the working class in the local area. After all it was Matt Busby that said it was the duty of Manchester United players to entertain on the weekend because the workers of the local Trafford park area deserved it to lighten their lives. This has always been my opinion football has been so deep rooted in our communities that it should be owned by the community. There is always the dream that one day your local club could win something. This dream is now dead in most clubs Football is now owned by the money men. This is where the franchise comes in.

If the English premiership was franchised the era the dominance by the club with the most money would be over. In America a franchise works because no club has more money than any other. The negotiations regarding contract are done on block and generally the team who wins the championship, whether it be the super bowl, Stanley cup or the NBA championship varies. This would be a good thing for the English premiership because unless your club is backed by a multi-billionaire your chances of winning anything are nothing. Some clubs will challenge the status quo for a season or two but the chances of actually winning are slim.

The argument against franchise is relegation keeps the league exciting. This is true, relegation battles are exciting, but to be in a relegation battle you have to lose more games than you win. If you survive relegation you are the tallest of the dwarves, but what have you really won.. Surely a competitive league is an ideal situation. At the moment the top four or five clubs have a mini-league that although can be exciting benefits nobody else. Recently Blackburn travelled to play Manchester United. Seventy fans made the thirty five mile journey as they knew they were going to lose.

Franchises are already happening every club is already up for sale by anybody as long as the purchaser has the money. If these people were buying franchises at least the process would be formalised and no matter how much money the purchaser had there would be no advantage as profits would be shared amongst the franchise teams. The lack of relegation and promotion would also would be an advantage for player development as no team is scared of being relegated there is no need to bring in seasoned old pros usually foreign to bolster the side in a relegation fight.

What about the teams in the league below. Well this is where we get back to grass-roots football local teams for local players in competitive matches. Take the big teams out of the league and you bring back competition. Becoming a league champion is now a realistic possibility.