I attempted recently to glean some information about the proposed new, invitation only, Premier league. Increased sponsorship was one of the things being ‘bandied about’ by chief executive Howard Wells. The person, whom I approached and who shall remain nameless, informed me that admission charges would rise also. On a fairly recent trip to Scotland, before the start of the present season, I attended a Scottish second division match and the admission charge was £10 to all parts of the ground. The Scottish second division would almost be on a par with our own Premier league, with mainly part-time clubs, but also one or two full-time ones too. When I asked my ‘source’ if this was the charge being intimated for the new set-up, he told me that £12 would be closer to the price. He went on to say that little of this new money would find its way into club ‘coffers’ and most would go to players increased wage bills. I must emphasis that at the moment I bitterly resent paying £9 for entrance to the Oval, where facilities are still in the dark ages, so I’m hardly going to welcome an increase to at least £12. The I.F.A. are at pains to point out that viewing facilities will change drastically in the new set-up, but I think they’re ‘putting the cart before the horse’, so to speak. In one and a half years time, the grounds will not have improved by any great deal and at the moment only about 20% come anywhere close to a decent standard. The criteria in my opinion shouldn’t be all-seater, stadia alone. Surely viewing facilities must be improved as well, as there’s nothing worse from a fan’s point of view as missing half of the action because the whole of the pitch isn’t in view. The I.F.A. are supposedly consulting everyone concerned, but I feel they are failing to consult the people most affected by the proposed changes, the fans themselves. I believe most fans, believe the league, although not perfect, gives a fair reflection and is quite competitive. There will always be isolated results like Glentoran putting 8 goals past Armagh City, as happened in the last league game between the two sides, but these results can happen in all leagues from time to time. I think the time has come for local football fans to make their feelings known to their respective clubs and then for that information to be passed onto the I.F.A., otherwise it’ll just be a case of the ‘tail wagging the dog’. In other words its 'high' time (forgive the pun), for local fans to let the administrators know that without us, there wouldn’t be a league and our feelings are of paramount importance!
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