I am not going to beat around the bush with this one but dive right in for my reasoning for such a bold statement.
If I was English I would be probably called a Xenophobe or some other name, I will probably still be called a racist or will be insulted by some keyboard warrior. I say bring it on, this is what I believe is ruining our game. If I had a billion pounds Antoine the footie lover would not want me to buy Liverpool F.C. yet Antoine the Liverpool supporter would think otherwise.
The Premier League is the No.1 league in the World (so they say), what has that done to the English game other than having clubs struggling with debt and player prices inflate beyond belief ? As England struggles in an other International competition it makes me wonder as to what exactly has the Premier League done for England? I believe that all the United Kingdom national teams have suffered because of the Premier League.
Rewind back to 1982; England, Scotland and Northern Ireland were all participating in the World Cup and this was at a time when only 24 teams took part. English clubs were dominating the European landscape and lifting European trophies and the thought of English clubs being owned by foreigners was unthinkable. The year is now 2010, England are the only home nation in the World Cup and struggling to make it to the knock out stage and no British team made it to the Champions cup semi-finals.
All we have to do is look at the other countries, can you imagine if a foreigner tried to buy Real Madrid or Barcelona? Or a foreigner tried to buy A.C. Milan or Juventus? Or a foreigner tried to buy Bayern Munich? It would be unthinkable, so why are the crown jewels of English football such as Liverpool F.C., Manchester United (appologises to my fellow Kopites for referring to them as a crown jewel) and Arsenal are owned by foreigners? Some leagues have special rules and laws to prevent foreign ownership, even here in the U.S. I would never imagine the possibility of a foreigner owning the New York Yankees, Boston Red Socks or Chicago Cubs. So why is it O.K. that my fellow Yanks buy English Footie clubs?
Some might argue that Chelsea and Manchester City have done very well under foreign ownership. Maybe the club has done better but has it been better for the English game to have such inflated player prices? Has it been better for the English game that the local young talent is being squashed ? Call me old fashioned but I miss the good old days when a scout from Liverpool could go to Scuntorpe and pick up gems like Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence who would go on to lift the European cups.
Yes there are some bad British owners too but overall it has been the foreign ones who have inflicted the most damage. I can’t believe I almost got through this article without mentioning Hicks and Gillett.
-Antoine