Column

Memory Lane – Premier League, Europe and TV

For the International break, Pattrick highlights a couple of articles that appeared in the Everton Matchday programme back in 1993, relating to these perennial topics.

Due to the International break and the Memory Lane article I'm currently writing being already too large, I thought I would see what people think of two articles from the 1993 Everton vs Leeds United programme, which gives some insight into how and why the game in England and Europe developed the way it did during the last 20 years.

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In the first article, then manager Howard Kendall, in his regular column, was wondering if it was a time for change, with regards to various facets of the English game. Following a meeting of the LMA – League Managers Association – a number of proposals were put forward to the Football Association and the Premiership Clubs. Howard Kendall gave his views on some of the proposals.

On the idea of a mid-season break in January, Howard said that he was against it mainly due to the unpredictability of the British climate.

The idea of reducing the number of clubs in the Premiership to 18 didn’t appeal to Howard Kendall either as he thought a reduction to less than 20 teams in the top-flight would be a step too far for the clubs as they would miss the revenue that the games produce.

But he would prefer to see only one cup competition rather than reduce the league to 18 clubs. If the League Cup was to continue, then Mr Kendall suggested it follows the same format as in Scotland where it is completed by Christmas.

Allowing England matches to be played on a Saturday was a suggestion that Mr Kendall was open to, and he said that it would only fair to allow the England manager to have a full week’s preparation time with his squad.

Another proposal was to introduce what we now know as the transfer window; Howard could see the sense in this idea as he thought it would settle players down and it would cut out a lot of interference by those people who have influence over players as they would lose the opportunity to unsettle the players.

On the other hand, it would restrict clubs from moving out players and bringing in new ones and, when results were going against managers, they would not have the option to buy-in replacements for players who are injured or suffering a loss in form.

The Beeb’s Moral victory was the title of a comment article which looked at the ramifications of English clubs losing their place in the various European competitions. Aston Villa, Manchester United, Norwich City and Arsenal had all qualified for Europe and ITV had chosen to cover three of the clubs, not including Norwich City. The BBC decided to do a deal and show Norwich’s European exploits and – due to the shock demise of Aston Villa, who lost to Spanish club Deportivo De La Coruna (1-2) in the second round of the Uefa Cup, and Manchester United who lost to Galatasaray (3-3) on the away goals rule in the European Cup second round. ITV’s football schedule had been decimated as only Arsenal remained available for coverage but they did not have a game in the European Cup Winnners Cup until March of the following year.

During the previous season, ITV had turned their attentions to Glasgow Rangers when Leeds United were knocked out, by them. That wasn’t an option this time round as Glasgow Rangers had already been knocked out.

The article reported that Bob Burrows (ITV Head of Sport) said “But what emerges from last weeks’ defeats is that ITV will no longer pay such enormous rights fees unless the English, and possibly Scottish, champions are guaranteed a place in the round-robin leagues, so providing quality matches for live coverage. UEFA are now looking at the problem. Should they broaden the competition to more clubs and keep the big names out as in the FA Cup until later stages? Who would have thought that Galatasaray would wreak such havoc?”

Continuing the theme of football and live television coverage, the article turned its attention to domestic matters, and it noted that every club in the Premier League had made at least one appearance and that the Sky cameras had been to 17 grounds but Goodison, Highbury and Hillsborough had yet to feature, whilst the grounds of Newcastle United and Wimbledon had already been visited three times. Newcastle United had been shown live in five games, more than any other Premier League club, including the champions Manchester United.

It also had sympathy for Manchester City manager Brian Horton who, after 12 games in charge of the club, he had lost only 3 of them, but every game had been screened ‘live’. They went on to say that Manchester City’s camera shyness dated back to Howard Kendall’s time as manager when Howard’s City beat Aston Villa at Villa Park... but, since that victory, City had failed to win when the cameras were present on thirteen occasions which was extended to fourteen as they only managed a goalless draw in their next televised game at Stamford Bridge.

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So, reading those articles got me wondering... Whilst we can see how the game has evolved in the last 20 years, is it inevitable that a closed shop of 20 clubs will form a European Super League within the next five years, as has been suggested recently?

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