I was at Redditch Utd yesterday and they seem to be very successful in getting adverts from local and national sources in the programme and around the ground ,you can be pretty certain that without the income from this Redditch would not be where they are today.
There was however one billboard that caught my attention especially bearing in mind the rumpus that it caused when put up at nearby Kidderminster Harriers earlier in the season, that being one from UKIP
UKIP are a divisive force with their being no middle ground you either love them or hate them but should they be advertising at a football ground,well at the end of the day they are a legal organisation and their money is as good as anybody else's so why not.
Of course there is another way that Grassroots and non league could be funded and that's the Pork Barrel Buffet that is the TV rights to the Premier League soon to be sorted to the tune of around £4 Billion,,the tiniest percentage of that could help fund non league across the country,during half time at the Redditch match I I noticed on the internet that for 20 days "Consultancy" work for Manchester Utd Alex Ferguson had been paid £2 Million.
People may not like some types of advertising or even advertising per se but until the vast fortunes at the top of football start filtering down the tree its a major way that football at the level that I love is going to have to be funded
It's income for the club - all non-league clubs sorely need it. I see no problem with an advert for UKIP, they seem quick to recognise the benefits of targeted support (ie social media first, now football grounds and they are establishing a visible presence in towns and cities in the form of walk in shops). Would be a different thing if this was an advert for say, the National Front, Black Panthers or ISIS (I was going to say the openly violent ANTIFA - but they do have a presence at football grounds amongst supporters, especially in Europe) - I think we have to trust the clubs to use discretion.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be something if a big club funded its small neighbours to a degree? They can afford it. But they won't.
Thats why I put the Ferguson bit in Neil Utd could fund most of Non League in the North West out of Petty Cash but they can't be arsed
ReplyDeleteIt's pathetic that the whiskery old farts of the FA and the FL rolled over and allowed the Premier League to step in as a private financial venture and prostitute the game at that level to the pimp that is Sky TV.
ReplyDeleteThe obscene amounts of money pouring into the game, pour out just as fast into the luxury mansions, yachts and Lambourghinis of the young men who play the game and, of course, the shady middle men and agents who manage their transfers, contracts, sponsorship deals and media releases.
The Premier League has no interest in the game. It is merely a worldwide marketing agency. It does not consider itself as the top division of English club football. It is a global brand. None of that money will ever find it's way to Redditch.
Sadly correct Dylan as a result of which non league must struggle on getting money where it can and relying on the goodwill of the great army of volunteers
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