Capitalist football? Referee!!

When I was a Leeds MP I once went to a meeting of colleagues to discuss the future of perennially crisis-hit Leeds United Football Club back in the noughties. Being the least football inclined person in the room I was shocked to discover that are as many views on the future of football clubs as there fans. I quickly realised I was quite out of my depth, and since I didn’t have the slightest interest in the game silence was the better course to take. But now, with the proposed formation of an exclusive European Super League, backed by bankers JP Morgan it seems everybody has become united in their condemnation of this ‘attack’ on the sport. But so far it seems to be only the fans who are blaming the capitalist ‘oligarchs’ for the attack. Others, higher up the pecking order seem to be more concerned with the so-called integrity of the game. I’ve not yet heard what Starmer has to say, perhaps he’s waiting for the right moment to condemn the rapacious capitalists behind the venture. Perhaps he’s waiting to see which way the wind blows. Using this episode to signal the end of capitalism—when of course football has been controlled by capitalists for decades—might be a tad premature, especially for someone as tin-eared as the Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition.