Rome Wasn't Built in Day; Chapter 16, Not in the wider interests of football

There's a version of the story of football in which the early 21st century was a period of growth, but underneath all this anger was building at the way in which clubs were being run.

16. Not in the wider interests of football

The new century had begun very much as the previous one had ended, with Manchester United and Arsenal duking things out at the top of the Premier League. But further down the ladder, the implications of the 1992 breakaway were becoming increasingly evident. Insolvency events were starting to become more commonplace, as were the stories of mismanagement from lower division clubs.

This sense of desperation led to a couple of decisions that look rash with the benefit of hindsight, although given that Football League clubs had to do something to try and keep up with the wage hyper-inflation that had come about as a result of the Premier League split, the Bosman ruling and other factors, perhaps it was understandable.

Satellite and cable broadcasting had begun in the 1980s, but attaching a satellite dish to the outside of one’s house remained anathema to many people. Digital television delivered by cable would make this unnecessary, but still there were issues. The technology owned by the market leaders in the field, Sky, was already somewhat outdated and lacked the capacity to be able to deliver what would be expected, while Sky’s debts also limited their ability to update their infrastructure easily.