To really not care about football right now?

[Frangipanini]

Obviously I care about support staff losing their jobs but I really DO NOT give a stuff about FIFA or massive salaries of football stars who refused to do their bit during this crisis. I am sick of seeing the reinstatement of football as headline news.

Surely, if there is every going to be a time to reset this joke of an industry it is now.

If they start up matches again I hope all these people who threw their toys out of the pram about pay cuts when other staff were furloughed, are shunned and booed on the pitch for years.

Yes. People jobs are going down the pan. I have little sympathy for footballers on massive wages. How do they think the fans that watch them will afford to go?

I'm with you OP. My boss went to the big Liverpool/Spain match in March and saw nothing wrong with it.

And the fuss created before lockdown at the very notion of closing down football seemed far greater than the virus itself.

Why is it a "joke" of an industry? I don't understand the hate for football. It's people doing a job and getting paid for it. What's wrong with that?

I do agree and the euros not being on this year does not bother me etc but sport does bring in loads of revenue and jobs non football related in hospitality and admin and all sorts.
I'm sure they are all hoping to get back to work.

I have absolutely zero interest in football myself and I think that footballers haven’t behaved particularly well during the crisis.

However, the game gives a lot of people joy. And in a free market, I can’t see what the point of capping salaries is. So long as clubs aren’t looking for public money, they can do what they like with theirs.

I agree OP, if football does start up again I assume it will have to be without supporters there as it will be a very long time until events with crowds will be allowed. So the support staff, catering, etc won't be needed anyway, it'll just be the footballers getting paid.

Having said that, i guess for people who enjoy watching football, it'll be a nice thing to watch to lift spirits during lockdown.

Yabu, million’s of people world wide follow football, it’s of huge interest to many many people. Players do get paid a huge amount, but the top players draw huge crowds and sell huge amounts of merchandise. Which allows all the support staff to be paid.

It's all about the money.

My job is reliant on football so YABVU.

It's the staff I feel for. Plus not all footballers are mega rich either.
People like watching sport. It's just something else that's been ruined by this pandemic and many jobs will go I suppose.

I'm not a football fan. But as an industry, it's part of our economy so restarting it needs to be considered along with everything else.

As for the huge salaries - the footballers only get those because so many people are prepared to pay for sports TV subscriptions, merchandise and so forth - which filters back to the clubs. If the game were not so popular, the players wouldn't be paid as much.

Many people criticise footballers' salaries as if they were being paid out of public funds, without realising that the money comes from the fans. If everyone cancelled their Sky Sports subscriptions and stopped buying the latest Man Utd shirt,, the footballers would soon find themselves on £25k a year - but that's not going to happen because football is immensely popular, to the degree of being like a religion for some.

Just because you don't get joy out of it doesn't mean no-one else is allowed to. Some footballers are paid a lot because they bring a lot of revenue in. They're paid what their teams deem to be their worth. That is it. No need to be a killjoy.

DH has a season ticket for a Premier League team. At first he really missed it until he realised there was nothing to miss . He's adamant they shouldn't be going back any time soon.

I do think the players should have taken a cut (no one but no one needs £250,000 A week!) and that money could have gone towards maintaining staff and helping out suppliers rather than the govt. having to pay.

I also think Sky threatening to withdraw money hasn't been helpful either.

The players of the Prem team I support have taken a pay cut, and they're not the only ones.

@JediJim How do they think the fans that watch them will afford to go

Sadly they always seem to find the money. Guy at my work paid nearly 600 quid to watch “his team” in Europe but couldn’t afford to send his kids on school trip. And I say this as a massive football fan but no way would it come before family needs.

Football encompasses both Manchester United and their millions and Yeovil Town though. Football brings joy (and pain tbf) to millions of people week in, week out and gives lonely people a family. Its not just millionaire footballers and billionaire owners. Its lower league fans volunteering to cut the grass and make the half time burgers.
A old and dear friend died in a nursing home (probably of the virus but as they're not test or taking to hospital anyone in nursing homes who knows) and he was a life long fan of our team. He was deeply involved in the supporters trust when he was fit enough and spent his Saturdays, with his close friends watching the game and discussing the game and the club and everything else. None of us could attend the funeral but we hung our scarves out of our windows yesterday and he wouldve loved that. Football gave him a passion and what's wrong with missing that?
I miss my actual family terribly, because I'm lucky enough to have a close and loving family. I have friends who feel very similar about their football family and I dont think that's any less valid and both are on hold right now.

If it starts up then people are going to gather in each other's houses, or go to a lock in. That's a given.

There's lots of jobs created from football. People from outside the EU who have no recourse to public funds, rely on the hospitality, cleaning etc jobs. When questioned Boris hasn't fully answered about funding for them.

My DD is a chef and wants a varied CV, so she used to work the match days and race meets, on agency around her full time job. Luckily she's still employed in her main catering job. Every business in Anfield and Everton, as well as across Liverpool relies on the football. There's a lot more at stake than the bigwigs losing out.

It’s not just football that is trying to re start it’s many sports
Football always appears to get the tough end of the stick

As a supporter of a Scottish team who earn no where near the money English players do I can understand why they want it to return - it’s their job they can’t afford to be on 80% wages just like I want to return to work

If it starts up then people are going to gather in each other's houses, or go to a lock in. That's a given.

There has been talk of this 'pick 10 lockdown friends' idea, so household gatherings might become OK again to coincide with this.

its been the one good thing. no football.

You have no idea whether footballers refused to do their bit or not, that is pure conjecture. No doubt footballers are extremely well paid, but so are lots of other people in many industries. You didn't see Matt Hancock question heads of business or top level white collar executives on similar pay, but you have no idea whether they refused to do their bit or not either. It just didn't fit the Tory narrative to mention them.

As it happens, I know that top level footballers do a huge amount within their communities, both with their own money, and their time. Many give huge personal donations to charities every year. There was also a valid point made about the tax lost if they took a big pay cut in this crisis, don't forget they all pay 40%.

Actually some football clubs and footballers have been excellent. Take Marcus Rashford. He had free school meals growing up and so gave some money to Fareshare when schools were first closed. I suppose Fareshare realised they could make more of this and the fundraising really took off and big supermarkets and others got involved too:

www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/manchester-united-marcus-rashford-provides-weekly-meals-to-children-in-neeed-a4428996.html

However, I completely agree that it is a very unsustainable model which is reliant on ridiculous sums for TV rights and a distorted distribution in which premiership clubs get everything and lower league clubs really do struggle unless they get a run in the FA cup.

I think the pressure to restart football is because Sky (and to a lesser extent BT) and the premiership clubs are worried many people will cancel their Sky Sports package because they can’t afford it or they realise they have survived without it.

It did give me a hollow laugh when they were saying that the return of football would boost people’s morale.
Not mine, it won’t! (I don’t begrudge it to footie fans though. At least, not much...).

I am imagine that football club lawyers will be writing future contracts to allow for a pay reduction if there are no matches.
In the meantime, some footballers, managers and retired players have been giving to charities etc, but they can well afford it.

Well it's certainly not compulsory to care about any sport at any time so you can't be unreasonable but it's understandable that it's in the news a lot as there's not much else but CV happening and billions around the world are passionate about it.