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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that footballers should only be able to play for the city they're from?

150 replies

BrownTrowsers · 10/07/2018 18:46

I know it would never happen but it would stop football being all about money. It would stop teams like Man Utd dominating the premier league simply because they have money. It would stop the ridiculous £5m a week type wages, it would make cities invest more in young people (currently, why would Hull City bother when they know that anyone decent will bugger off to the premier league once they have the opportunity) - it wouldn't make football be about community, talent, pride and football rather than money.

I mean, how does Man Utd represent Manchester when most of their players (if not not all) are from various parts of the world?

OP posts:
DuggeeHugs · 10/07/2018 19:41

As a Sunderland fan you aren't being entirely unreasonable Jordan Pickford . But as someone who doesn't live in Sunderland, and would hate to be forced to only support the local team because I happen to need to live a few hundred miles from my team, you are being massively unreasonable

YesILikeItToo · 10/07/2018 19:43

Scottish Rugby experimented with a ‘Fortress Scotland’ strategy a bit back - idea (presumably) to enhance the development pathway through Scottish clubs. Players were to play for Scottish clubs to get selected for Scotland. It wasn’t a great success.

GameOfMinges · 10/07/2018 19:44

Well you certainly can't be allowed to play sports professionally undercover. We don't want your type on the football pitch!

I'm also wondering, what happens if you live somewhere with no professional football club in easy travelling distance? Maybe one of the Hebrides or similar. Will one be started for you? Will you be allowed to go to a different Hebridean island?

CornishYarg · 10/07/2018 19:46

Re your second suggestion, the NBA have a salary cap in place. Teams have a maximum amount they can spend on players' salaries so the top paid players are spread across different teams.

But the NBA is by far the most competitive and highest standard basketball league in the world. So the risk of players going elsewhere to get more money is low, which isn't the case with football.

Charm23 · 10/07/2018 19:47

Piggywaspushed Oops my bad, um.. fire-people? And no I'm not a researcher but I was trying to think of people that do good and thought about people that do medical research haha shrugs

ApolloniaC · 10/07/2018 19:51

People will always go where the best wages are.
Football - premiership teams
Medical professionals - USA
Bankers - London

That's how you achieve success

hammeringinmyhead · 10/07/2018 19:52

This is all still irrelevant in terms of equalising results. If a team is owned by Roman Ibramovic you will have a better manager, better medics, better facilities, and a giant coaching team (vs Northern Town FC as owned by shareholders from local businesses). They'd shape the local players and dominate that way.

BadLad · 10/07/2018 19:53

Scottish Rugby experimented with a ‘Fortress Scotland’ strategy a bit back - idea (presumably) to enhance the development pathway through Scottish clubs. Players were to play for Scottish clubs to get selected for Scotland. It wasn’t a great success.

Isn't this what the All Blacks do? You can only play for New Zealand if you play your club rugby there, I think.

GameOfMinges · 10/07/2018 19:57

Another thought occurs to me, on the subject of regional discrimination within the UK. OP doesn't seem to have paid much attention to Northern Ireland when brainstorming. Speaking as someone who's attended a few Irish League games, I sympathise, but I'm afraid we can't simply wish them away.

The problem with this proposal in NI is that the clubs are mostly semi-pro, tops. If you come from Fermanagh and you're the next Pele, you're nonetheless not getting paid enough to live on by your club, purely because of where you were born. It isn't exodus of local talent that's keeping Ballinamallard from being fully pro!

Piggywaspushed · 10/07/2018 20:00

Hence George Best played for Man U , indeed, minges !

charm : try firefighters. We've been saying that for a while !

Imstickingwiththisone · 10/07/2018 20:04

But even if players wages were capped, players would want to go to the clubs with the most success historically, the most prestige, and the best manager and therefore those clubs would attract top quality players more easily, regardless of wages, and so they'd still have an unfair advantage over the usual smaller clubs. Unless you just want every club to be identical and no one ever wins ever.

CheshireChat · 10/07/2018 20:14

So the best teams would be Manchester (which one?!) London and everyone born in a smaller place would be screwed.

Get what you're saying OP, but it's unworkable especially who will train the kids that move cities whilst young- my kid is born in Hull, we're planning on moving to Manchester so why would Manchester train him as he won't play for them, but obviously he can't train in Hull.

OlennasWimple · 10/07/2018 20:17

OP - if you're trying to find a way to make it "fairer", go and read up on the US drafts system, which is designed to try to ensure that everyone gets an equal chance to sign the best players, even down to the team that comes last getting the first "pick" in the new season.

GameOfMinges · 10/07/2018 20:19

Yes well piggy, people from Northern Ireland shouldn't be able to get paid the same as people from big, wealthy UK cities. They definitely shouldn't be able to go to cities that traditionally have really strong links with Ireland and have seen massive Irish migration and work there, like millions of Irish before them. Or they should, but only in certain approved occupations. You're ok if you're a really talented law student from Tyrone but shit out of luck if your brains are in your feet.

To fill in some gaps for anyone who might not be familiar with the financial situation of clubs in NI, a few years back my cousin was playing for an Irish League team, ie the top flight, and his family were on child tax credits. It's not people on 10k a week instead of 100k.

Piggywaspushed · 10/07/2018 20:21

Imagine if you were from the Hebrides or Orkney!! ? No fitba fer ye , Hamish. Off you go to your croft and stop getting ideas above your station.

Sundance65 · 10/07/2018 20:22

I always say teams should reflect their local community - only one that really does is Chelsea - full of rich foreigners!

kaytee87 · 10/07/2018 20:51

Imagine if you were from the Hebrides or Orkney!! ? No fitba fer ye , Hamish. Off you go to your croft and stop getting ideas above your station.

😂😂😂😂

pigeondujour · 10/07/2018 20:52

I mean, how does Man Utd represent Manchester when most of their players (if not not all) are from various parts of the world?

'If not all'? So basically you don't have a clue what you're talking about?

ASongOfRiceAndPeas · 10/07/2018 20:56

No.

SilverySurfer · 10/07/2018 20:59

So how would that work for a team like Tottenham for example (pop. 15,000 according to google)? What are the chances of there being enough good players for there to even be a team? It might be possible in places like Manchester (half a milllion pop.) but by no means certain.

Sorry OP, it's a daft idea.

Baubletrouble43 · 10/07/2018 21:04

What a stupid idea. So my neighbours incredibly talented son can dream of playing for a small shitty Cornish town that may one day be in the Vauxhall conference because he's unfortunate enough not to be born in a major city ergo will have no career. Dumbest idea I've heard in ages. Possibly forever.

IcedPurple · 10/07/2018 21:09

This is one of the daftest thing I've read here.

Cristiano Ronaldo was born in Madeira. If you had your way, he'd never have become a professional footballer, let alone one of the greatest in history.

knowledgeofnone · 10/07/2018 21:12

I've had many a debate about this and my plan when I become fifa president is a worldwide sweepstake of players where everyone gets paid the exact same (bonuses can be earned according to the club) and basically names go in a hat for every team so messi could end up at Aberdeen and Ronaldo could end up at Lyon etc I feel it evens things up and gets rid of the expensive wages obviously there is a lot more details to the plan but I'm saving it for when I need to get my head of fifa votes! 😜

BMW6 · 10/07/2018 21:14

Where are YOU from OP? If you have children where were THEY born?