The newest installment for our reader-submitted section, ‘From The Terraces‘, comes to us from Andy who is rather unenthusiastic about the whole “Premiership” thing.
What do I gain from my club being in the Premiership? F*ck all. Watford getting promoted has destroyed my right to be a loyal supporter of my local club. This corporate sham that claims to be ‘the best league in the world’ has killed off the traditional spirit and passion that made football our national game and replaced it with soulless stadia filled with glory-hunting fools who have no real understanding of the game other than comments they steal off Andy Gray.
Obviously like every fan I want my team to win, but that’s not why I go to football. I go for whole day, the build up with it’s matchday routine, the hope rather than expectation that today we might actually play well for once, the discussion of everything the manager and players have been doing right and wrong, the buzz of a group of fans who come together every game because it’s our club, not because of glory or bragging rights, we win, lose and draw together, and we take the lows and celebrate the highs together. Some Premiership supporters will understand that, but many don’t have a clue.
That’s why the Football League is better than the Premiership, because everything about it is real. And that’s why I won’t be going to watch Watford this season. Many of the hardcore fans won’t be their either, probably not disillusioned like me (yet) but because they’re unable to get tickets because they can’t afford the inflated prices or don’t fit the bizarre criteria to join the new membership scheme. And who will they be replaced by? Nobodies who don’t care about WFC, idiots who think that being connected to a Premiership club makes them important because they get to watch Chelsea’s army of mercenaries once in the season, or because they can taunt a work colleague who supports a ‘little’ club.
And will they be there next season if we get relegated? Of course not. But because they’ve jumped on the bandwagon now, I can’t enjoy Watford’s success because it’s been ruined by the greed and arrogance that the Premiership has created. So I’ll be playing Saturday parks football this season with people who love football, and will happily avoid the overblown hype that permeates the top flight of the game
I hate the Premiership.