As I stood on a piss-stained terrace, largely alone, on another wet, windy day - the thought came across my mind; Is English football doomed to failure due to lack of support for the smaller clubs?
Many companions of mine support larger, richer clubs. Due to this, my hometown club,
Macclesfield Town, is forced to rely on its hardcore fans that have been followers for many years. The club is struggling to attract new fans and if this carries on, is doomed to be wound up.
It was a Saturday; kick off at 3,
Macclesfield Town vs.
Torquay United - The most southern team in League two. Due to their geographical placement, a large away attendance was unlikely, and thus fears were correct.
Torquay fans came in their tens, 56 being the total away attendance. Therefore a large
Macclesfield fan base needed to show up to increase attendance and generate the much needed finance a small club such as
Macclesfield needs to survive. Unfortunately, this was also unlikely, as the attraction of larder clubs nearby meant a lot of the local people travelled elsewhere to see their football that day. The attendance of the game was 1526; the lowest of the whole football league on that day, figures which meant drastic action needed to be taken. Greater advertising, cheaper ticket prices, offers and fancy dress days (Halloween), but still the attendances do not increase. Have the lower leagues of football hit the point of no return, on a slippery slope that will inevitably end in the clubs being dissolved?
Unfortunately due to the low attendance, there was a such a small number of people that saw the valiant fight back, with
Macclesfield going 0-1 down early in the second half, but going on to win the game by two goals to
Torquay’s one.
I state this point to you, supporters of Premier League clubs, to prove the importance of the lower divisions.
Any of you Manchester United fans? Remember when David
Beckham made his break through into the first team, with that unbelievable half way line goal? Shortly after he was loaned to Preston North End, a club two divisions lower than Manchester United at that time. Now, I argue this ; would David have reached his full potential if not given this chance to prove himself with regular football? At this present time, the evergreen midfielder is on the verge of attending his forth world cup as well as bearing the honour of being the most capped outfield player for England.
In the
Macclesfield Town squad is a young lad named John Rooney, brother of Wayne. Cast aside from the
Everton youth system when he was just 16,
Macclesfield Town acted quickly and invited him to a trial at the club. Morally injured, it was thought that John would drop out of football and therefore never fulfilling his full potential and putting his wonderful talent on show.
However, John
Askey (
Macclesfield town legend, overall appearance record holder and Youth Coach) was very impressed with what he saw and quickly offered John a two year contract.
At this present time, a host of Premier League clubs are tracking the eighteen year old, with teams such as Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers having him watched regularly. I argue that, if the lower league clubs were to suffer to the extent of being wound up, would John Rooney have a career in football right now? He has been given a lot of attention by the media and has been tipped for Big things later in his life, already stating that he would prefer to play for Ireland, when asked about his international career.
England have always been a top footballing side, with the first XI containing 3 of The Top 10
FIFA Best Footballers of the World. However, in 2008, events occurred that sent a
shock wave down the footballing spine of the country; England failed to reach Euro 2008.
In today’s newspapers, no longer do they report on this disaster, but rather upon the optimism of how well England can do in South Africa 2010. However, at the time, 53% of England fans stated that they blamed the lack of home-grown talent on the fact that England did now qualify for this vibrant international competition. Upon further inspection, the National Squad is not as strong as once hoped. It lacks strength in depth, needing more bright young stars to push through into the first team and ‘knock on the door of the National Side.’ In my opinion, it is obvious that the more teams in England, the more chance there is of unearthing the next England superstar. If the lower league clubs were to suddenly be taken away, the outcome would be catastrophic for the National Side.
The Premier League is alive with examples. Throughout the division, many teams have players in their squad who have been recruited from the divisions below. The most recent is obviously Chris Smalling at
Fulham (recently signed a
pre-contract agreement with Manchester United.) Just three years ago, during the 2007-2008 season, Chris was playing for
Maidstone United ; a team that earns its trade in the Isthmian League. With
Maidstone usual having an attendance around the 500 mark, it’ll be quite a culture shock for Chris when he finds himself in front of the 75,000 strong Old
Trafford army. When you see that the young defender already has a hand full of England U21 caps, the future for England’s back-line looks very bright indeed.
As I state the huge benefit’s the smaller clubs can have on English football, if you are a fan of a larger club, then I do hope next match day you will travel the shorter distance to your hometown club - paying your money to watch them instead. After all, a twelve pound admission fee goes a lot further with
Macclesfield Town than Manchester City.
