Of course this was an absolute dream for football clubs, as this opened up markets previously unreachable, and gave them unlimited scope to sell their “product”. You didn’t have to travel to see the most successful teams play. This meant that no matter where you lived in the world, you could watch them every week from the comfort of your living room. Then subscription TV, and latterly internet providers entered the market. The more successful a team became, the more supporters went to watch them, and the cycle continued. I mean, who doesn’t want to be associated with a winning team?Įven when the team plays away, the home team’s supporters tend to turn up in huge numbers, not only to see what all the fuss is about and check out some of the best players in the competition, but also in the hope that their own team can somehow upset the odds and score a resounding victory over their more illustrious opponents.Īnd this was the way football worked up until around 30 years ago. Liverpool, AC Milan, Boca Juniors, Melbourne Victory and Real Madrid all have huge fan bases relatively speaking, as well as the full trophy cabinets to back it up.Īll of these clubs have had huge membership numbers for a sustained period of time, simply because success on the pitch attracts supporters. There are similar giant-killing examples throughout footballing history, but it remains a fact that the best supported teams tend to be the most successful ones (and vice versa). Whilst I’m sure that Liverpool fans would have preferred not to lose that particular final, all that silverware would have provided a fair degree of salve to the wound. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, and history is littered with examples of underdogs knocking the giants off their perch.īut these tend to be one offs, and while plucky Wimbledon may have caused the shock of all shocks by beating Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final, the truth is that Liverpool won 6 League titles, 2 FA Cups and 2 European Cups during the 1980’s. Up until the 1990’s, British football clubs did all they could to attract the public to come and watch them play at 3pm every Saturday afternoon, the traditional kick time for football matches in the UK harking back to the days when factories closed at the weekend.īefore the advent of pay TV, payment at the turnstiles was the clubs’ main source of income, and the more paying customers they got through the gates, the greater the revenues which would in turn allow the club to buy better players, thereby making the team more successful.
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