In a previous article I looked at lack of one-club players in the Premiership in comparison to the previous incarnation of the Football League. I have decided to look at the other end of the spectrum.

As a football fan I have in the past questioned the loyalty of footballers in the Premiership era and I have got to thinking that maybe this is not the correct way of looking at the issue. Is it maybe that the chairman and directors who have been in control all along?

I have on many occasions been disgusted when I have seen players seemingly chasing the pound signs and fleeing their clubs for pastures new. But I have very rarely been angry at a club for offloading players they simply want to get a cash return on. Footballers are often portrayed as money-grabbing good-for-nothings but can we really blame them for their inflated salaries? Would we in their shoes turn around and say: “You know what, I am not really worth this much, maybe we should cut my wages.”

"Footballers are often portrayed as money-grabbing good-for-nothings but can we really blame them for their inflated salaries?"


There are, for instance, the occasions when players see out their contracts, leave for free - and then pocket the inflated wages as a result. Sol Campbell, Steve McManaman and more recently Steve Sidwell spring to mind. For some reason this annoys me, but why? There is a school of thought that the club has somehow brought them on and has looked after them for a set number of years and therefore the player is being disloyal by deciding that he makes the money from his move and not his club. To me this argument if flawed, but still I am irritated when this occurs.

When a player at a smaller club gets the whiff of a larger club wanting him, that player then states that he wishes to leave as soon as possible (insert whichever player has done this to your club and feel the hot sweat of anger as you ponder the occasion when this occurred). This also angers me, but again I am left wondering why.

If I work for a company and then another organisation wants to employ me (unlikely in my case), and invariably wants to give me money, should I not take the position out of some skewed one-sided form of loyalty? I realise that football, and sport in general, should not so easily be compared to everyday life, but again I am left asking myself, why? A job is a job, are we so jealous of these guys getting paid a king's ransom for something that is immensely enjoyable that we simply want to impose unwritten rules so as to justify our seemingly unwarranted demands?

There is a school of thought that says the Premiership is about to hit a bubble (some say this has already happened), where wages and transfer costs have risen so sharply that they simply cannot be covered by sponsorship, TV money and ticket prices. This seems inevitable, yet wages continue to rise as do transfer fees, so where will it end? Is this down to the greed of players or their owners? I know which door I lay the blame at. Do you?