Who are the “people” of football?

Most aspects of modern life have changed dramatically in the last 50 years; That is the way it is intended, the symptoms of progress and evolution. There have been major changes in the last 20 years, a sign of a rapidly developing society. A lot has been disrupted in the last five years; That is the result of financial crises, geo-political struggle, pandemies and political transformation in some important countries. Voetbal has been transformed over the past decade thanks to globalization, social media and a broader universe of stakeholders.

Legacy fans claim that the game is no longer until the ‘people’, but those present, popularity and attraction of football would tell us differently. People cram in stadiums around the world and create presence records in many countries. Clubs make fortunes of merchandising bought by the supporters and TV companies are usually the payment of football competitions huge sums of money for broadcasting rights. Rich investors want to climb a part of the action, politicians climb over each other to be associated with the game and nation states use the sport as a way to win their image Wash and Soft Power Battles. People are there, it’s their game, but are they the same as we used to associate with football?

Top flight in England – Average presence

1925	1935	1955	1965	1975	1985	1995	2005	2015	2025
22,592	23,386	32,646	27,508	27,254	21,080	24,271	33,893	36,176	40,401

Large companies fill the executive boxes in stadiums, it is rarely the old butcher, baker and candlestick maker from the past who wins and dines his friends, they are now hedge funds, real estate agents, banks and asset managers who occupy the expensive seats, not to mention tourists. The subject of foreign visitors is controversial for some fans who do not like the practice to make tickets available for Chinese, Japanese and Korean supporters, among others. The fact is that the Premier League has been successful because the public was looking for his traditional fan base – those who talk about betraying their clubs, do not remember that in 1992 the average presence for the English top flight was 22,000 – about 20,000 per game has since been added to the regular competition.

The same can be said about the focus on business customers, who still only form a modest percentage of the crowd and yet the story is often about the deprivation of the Legacy fan. Ticket prices are outrageous at some clubs, but the fans still buy them. Merchandise is also expensive, but the die-hards still find enough money to buy the latest shirt of this season. They are discretionary expenses and it makes everyone look the same, so why is it such a compelling acquisition? And, as we have often said, clubs have very little motivation to change what they do because they have a long waiting list for tickets. Supply and demand, one of the principles of capitalism.

Case Study: Chelsea, from European winners to second rows of wrestlers

	Average	Division	Movement
1970-71	39,545	1	-2%
1971-72	38,783	1	-2%
1972-73	29,722 ^[1]	1	-14%
1973-74	25,983	1	-13%
1974-75	27,396 ^[2]	1	+5%
1975-76	18,957	2	-30%
1976-77	30,633 ^[3]	2	+62%
1977-78	28,734	1	-7%
1978-79	24,782 ^[4]	1	-14%
1979-80	23,266	2	-6%
1980-81	17,897	2	-23%
1981-82	13,132	2	-27%
1982-83	12,672	2	-4%

¹ Stadium capacity reduced in 1972-73 and 1973-74 due to the construction of new stand
² Exiled to the second division
³ Promoted to the first division
⁴ Exiled to second divisioN

Between 1971 and 1983, Chelsea lost 68% of their support.

The old audience started to reduce the decline of industrial large -Britain and while the game was cheap to watch, it is no longer. For some, an Arsenal season card is a sign of prosperity, especially if it is not used every game. In recent years, a study had been conducted in which it was shown that about 80% of the disposable income was spent in the city of Liverpool following Liverpool FC or Everton. In other words, even in some of the most disadvantaged areas, people will find the money to support their teams, just like they have always fed their habits, such as drinking and smoking.

Decline of the old audience – top flight

1968	1973	1978	1983	1984	1985	1986
33,029	30,257	28,692	20,126	18,834	21,080	19,569

If football had sustained with his old clientele, would it have recovered from the poison of the 1980s in the abyss and grew again? It is doubtful because the money would not have been to feed the rise of the Premier League. It is more than 40 years since Bradford and Heysel and the days that gangs of supporters fought on terraces and in side streets. Only those who have experienced those times will know how precarious it was to go to games and travel to and from stadiums. To a certain extent, the prime minister was a antidote and without attracting a more diverse crowd, making the white, male, working class demography that was full of resentment, injustice and testosterone, possibly got the game out of hand. It is currently changing again and that is why there is a certain degree of friction of those who see the growing influence of women as a form of threat.

Selected clubs – rise and fall

	1937	1947	1957	1967	1976	1986
Arsenal	43,353	43,226	41.093	31,773	26,945	23,824
Chelsea	32,414	44,550	31,732	35,591	18,957	21,985
Everton	30,292	40,854	35,076	42.606	27,115	32,226
Leeds	18,199	26,069	32,672	35,221	31,511	13,259
Liverpool	23,798	45.732	35,743	46,388	41,623	35,271
Man.	32,332	43,945	45,481	53,854	54,750	46,321
Newcastle	24,430	49.379	35,202	32,081	33,060	23,434
Tottenham	25,342	34,636	43,280	41,988	27,836	20,859
Wolves	23,787	43,254	34,956	24,787	22,951	4,020

The diversification of football mixing has created an environment that is more refined than the seventies and eighties, which in turn made the atmosphere much less wild. The Big Football Club has a varied customer base and tries to serve them all. It is without a doubt a more expensive game to watch, but the hunger to pay excessive prices is clear. Of course some will stamp and wave their feet with their banners, but on the proof of what we have been looking for a long time, consumers do not exercise their rights not to buy. In the meantime, a day at the expensive chairs has become the perfect company performance, while Pre-Heysel, Blue chip companies would not come close to the sport. Nowadays, however, it is the game for all people.