How did Abramovich and Qatar manage to buy Chelsea and Man City if the elite clubs have done this since the leagues inception? Clearly that was not in Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and our (or anyone else in the PL at the time) interest back then. I get your point, and agree it smells like corruption for the sake of them maintaining their own status but it clearly hasn't been like this all the time.
A bit more on topic, I won't be watching any games of any kind of medium next season. Whenever I'm back in Newcastle on business travel and it falls close to a weekend or so I'll try to catch a game with Gateshead or Blyth instead.
It's so sad. I love Newcastle and the people living there. Going to football was always the primary objective but a big bonus was the nice athmosphere in the city, the shops, resturants so I'll definitely visit as much as I can but that will probably be less than before when I can't justify travelling to matches.
What I was really alluding to was the fact that the Premier League was set up to protect the interests of those clubs in that elite group. While some clubs will move into and out of the group, the bigger players - such as Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal - were pretty much guaranteed to always be in it and therefore were able to take ever increasing shares of the revenues, so further cementing their place year after year.
Years later and the whole financial balance in English football is completely out of kilter. The idea that we're now in a situation where, if you're relegated from the Premier League you're given three years worth of financial support, which gives you an unfair advantage over the other teams in the lower divisions, is anathema to me. And the fact that clubs like Bury can go out of business, while the Premier League is awash with money, is a travesty.
I don't know if I'm making sense. I'm just angry at everything and particularly the whole idea of the Premier League today. It just feels like the whole set-up is inherently designed to protect the "big clubs" and that this is just another step to ensure that there are ever fewer and fewer challengers.
I have similar feelings about FFP and, for me, it was little surprise to see Liverpool and Tottenham come out in support of it recently, following the outcome of Man City's appeal.