Not sure if anyone has posted this already. Gary Neville's testimony to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee about the sale of Wembley this week. Nailed it I think.
The trouble is the premier league will not allow any money to be taken away from that given to the clubs, they NEED the clubs to be rolling in as much cash as possible, the more the clubs receive the more they can spend on players, which means the top players from all over the world, meaning the TV rights money continues to rise making both the premier league and clubs richer and richer, they are like 2 parasites living off each other, it’s the same reason young English players won’t get a chance. The premier league needs the clubs to buy top foreign players to make the league worth more to a worldwide audience, to give the clubs more money to buy bigger players, to increase the TV rights.........repeat, repeat, repeat.
Sell the ground and use the money to build a new national stadium more easily accessible and central to the whole country.
I wonder how much a 2% levvy on players wages would generate each year towards grass roots football? There used to be a levvy that self employed tradesmen had to pay to help support the Construction Industry Training Board.
Squad numbers should be restricted, to stop such as Chelsea hoovering up all the English talent and only being interested in loaning out dozens and dozens of young players, in a plan to put them in shop window and sell them. Many of these young players should be going though academies of lower league clubs and then breaking into first teams. It won’t happen though. The academies are a source of income for the top clubs, sign as many young English players from a young age and then sell them for a few million after them being loaned out for a few years or charge Loan fees. The amount of young players that don’t play regular league football is massive and effects their career.
The only thing is, they'll sell it for half of what a new stadium will cost. A third after you add all the delays and unforseen costs to it. So it's just money down the drain. I'd rather they use existing stadiums more, which are already there. Have England play games at Old Trafford for example. Playoffs could be hosted anywhere as well. Though ofcourse there's an element of tradition that would be lost by it.
Traditional element was lost when New Wembley was built. I wouldn't want them moving international games around club grounds, as I like the idea of a permanent national home. Just put it more central to the whole country so the team doesn't feel so southern. If you sell a stadium in London and build a replacement around for example Birmingham, you should be well in pocket with the cheaper costs.
Should never have been rebuilt anyway, the old Wembley should have been kept as a historical building and a new stadium built in a more central location or just played matches around the country. However I don't like the idea of some foreign Billionaire from the NFL coming and buying the most famous football ground in the world willy nilly.
