A bit has made in the press of the awful attendances in Europe this week (eg. Villa got about 15000 apparently and Chelsea got 27000) and of the equally awful viewing figures for the matches shown. This is being used to suggest that the football bubble is bursting. I think it's more about the number of games that you are being asked to attend nowadays coupled with how f....g awful these early round UEFA games are (I watched Maritimo v Leeds and it was unspeakably bad apart from the slight pleasure of Leeds being beaten by a side who are infintely worse than any of the sides we played in the Interoto, except maybe Lokeren at home). Anyone agree or disagree about this bubble bursting thing?

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

Answers

Dougal, Not sure if I think the football bubble is bursting, but I've been saying for a while that something needs to be done about the European competitions. I'm fooball daft & have been since I was a kid. Even though Newcastle were never involved (pre-Keegan) I always used to watch European games. Even in the early stages of the Champions League it was still interesting when Manchester United played Barcelona or whoever. It was great to see different styles of football, different stadiums, different sets of fans & players that you usually only ever read about. On top of that, both the European Cup and Champions League were thrilling competions & every game really mattered. I don't know about the rest of you, but if Newcastle aren't involved I've got no interest whatsoever in the UEFA cup as all the good teams are in the Champions League. And I can't be bothered with the Champions League until the knock out stages because there are just too many games, many of them meaningless. Why would I be interested if Manchester United play Brondby in a group game when I already know that ManUre are likely to go through regardless of the result? As I said, I've always been football daft & if I'm losing interest in European football then their must be thousands of other people who feel the same. Some teams will play 14 games just to get to the knock-out stages of the champions league this year - I'll start watching when they get there, but I'm buggered if I'm going to watch before that. Anyway, here's hoping we'll be having this discussion next summer while we're waiting for our name to come out of the hat in the Champions League group stage draw!!!!

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

I think the real danger is over-exposure of the product on telly. There was at least one game on telly every day from last Saturday until Thursday, and often more than one.

I watched two games last Sunday and could have watched another two, including the Spanish game.

On Wednesday I watched the dreary Liverpool game, plus the last 15 minutes of each half of the mackem game v Spurs. After that the Leeds game was on due to a late KO. I only watched 5 minutes and switched off as I felt utterly 'footied out'.

The plethora of live games is killing the sense of anticipation we use to feel for live games, and will inevitably impact the desire of the semi-committed from attending games on a cold, wet Wednesday night in February.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

Good question. The football bubble may well be set to burst - Wall Street fell 14% in 5 sessions since reopening, worse week since 1933- but poor UEFA attendances seem a more accurate reflection of how degraded that competition has become post-‘Champions’ League. Didn’t catch the Maritimo game but reports suggest the Leeds players approached it in the spirit of a Worthington Cup clash.

Not long ago live domestic football on TV was restricted to a Sunday league fixture + occasional Cup game. Watching European football depended on how long it took for the English reps to get knocked out. When English clubs were banned only the European Cup final was broadcast. Like ADK I enjoyed the rare chance to catch a glimpse of different football cultures, clubs, styles of play, liked what I saw and wanted to watch more. The power of the television and commercial interests soon ensured I got more. Now Champions League games are six a penny every other week and anyone with access to the right channels can watch the top Italian + Spanish matches every week. The novelty factor has vanished.

That said one club broke all records during its all-too-brief appearance in a minor European competition this season. They the club fell at the final hurdle was in no way the fault of thousands of its loyal fans.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

Absolutely - mind you, since I'm currently in Sydney I feel a bit of a hypocrite decrying the number of games on TV - we currently get live games on Saturday night, Sunday night (2), Monday night/Tuesday morning plus a full replay of a different game on Sunday afternoon. End result is that by the time we play Spurs we'll have been on TV here 6 times out of 8, which is fantastic!

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

Not sure I see how tv can have that much impact on attendances, other than in the areas immediately local to the matches. In that case, they only need to blackout tv coverage within X mi/km radius of each match. Then any kind of overexposure is only impacting viewing figures. I guess I see that from a US perspective where the box is saturated with coverage of everything EXCEPT footy(Though we are getting more coverage than we used to). People still attend games and there must be enough watching so networks find it profitable tokeep showing it all.

I tend to think the problem is more with the number of fixtures people are being asked to attend, the cost of attending, and in European competition..the loss of any real sparkle. Read somewhere the other day that UEFA is considering adding group stages to the UEFA cup as well in an attempt to draw more interest. I think they've completely missed the point. Who cares? Both comps should be returned to a knock out, and Champs League losers should not get automatic admission to the UEFA cup. The games will then mean a lot more in both comps.

Prices are another issue, and with the uncertainty in the world right now, I think alot of people are going to be rethinking how they spend their discretionary income. Keeping prices reasonable will help, but there may still be some drop off for awhile.

'course, as Stevo pointed out, one team managed to break records in spite of it all. :-)

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

I think it will change when the competitions get past the "prelimnary stage". To me, the CL has been so much degraded (yes, I know we only qualified when we were 2nd) since they allowed "non-Champions" to join in, then having so many teams that the group stage looks more like the Scottish League. Forget this nonsense and get back to real knockout competitions. Mind, I'll still watch them when I'm not away.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

maybe they should start concessions????????????????????? Or at least be accused of it!

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

How about a combination of factors ..... FIFA & UEFA are running as giant cash cows with no intent to benefit the game and fans only themselves. The format changes to the Champions league and demise of other cup "competitions" is a result of clubs prioritising their vastly overpaid resources to generate maximum return via success either domestically or on the world stage. Manure avoiding playing in the FA cup and teams fielding weakened sides for unimportant games are classic examples.

You as a punter forking out your hard earned to gan to thu match have a multitude of other recreational choices open to you one of which is to plug into the goggle-box. You can do this in the comfort of your own home and access football across the globe - an easy choice if you have already paid for the approriate "viewing privilage". Where will it end ?? Darlo TV bringing you their latest match away at Shrewsbury via PPV on the internet ?? Great if you cannot get to the game and support your team but what atmosphere will be at the ground ??

It saddens me to see great teams playing in fantastic stadia with only a few thousand diehard fans in attendance. Can we start bringing the game back to the fans .....

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001

The FA Cup final used to be the highlight of the season. A live game, stacks of build up, no matter who was playing it was special (apart from West Ham - Fulham).

Then they started to show other games live, and they were special, for a while.

Now you get the option, if you wish of a game every day, and two on Sunday. Nothing special, no matter who it is.

Apart from making money gambling I wouldn't dream of watching a game unless it mattered (knock out stuff) or was NUFC. League games are rubbish.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2001