"Children are the future of the game" is a mantra oft trotted out by the great and the good and on the face of it- logically - they are spot on. It's always been that way, the evolution of life and normal course of things makes it so, as We grow older our ability to follow the beautiful game diminishes, and the vacuum left by older fans no longer being able to attend has to be filled. It's common sense.
In not so distant by gone days it was often a natural progression. Dad went because his dad took him and dad's kid went for the same reason. It was a father and son ( and in a few cases father daughter) afternoon out, often indeed a grandfather, father, son, uncle, cousin afternoon out. A regular wider family bonding session if you will. The Saturday ritual was the same every other week as home games came around. Everyone would meet up at the same place, at the same time and do the same things. The adults invariably in their local having a few beers while the kids played outside accompanied by a can of ginger and packet of crisps! It was just what Saturday's were for. Thousands of families had similar rituals up and down the country no matter their allegiance. Lifelong friendships were forged by the kids. This all happened not as long ago as many would have you believe, there was indeed regularity in football before TV became the guv'nor in 1992!
Sadly it's all so different now.
Children growing up in the 21st century have so many other things to do making the task of getting them to watch live sport a task in itself. Why should they want to stand or sit outside in all the elements for a couple of hours when they could be cosy at home getting goggle eyed on their laptop/tablet/games console or whatever! Especially in a time when its moved on from simply playing games against the device and it's now all about on line games against other people.
But technology is only part of the problem!
The "every other Saturday" routine is impossible now.
So many Clubs, particularly the so called bigger Clubs, rarely have a Saturday afternoon game any more. It's lunchtime, evening, Friday night, Sunday, Monday - and that's before factoring in scheduled mid week games and those rearranged due to postponements and suchlike! The television scheduling of football is getting totally out of control. It's beginning to affect every league and supporters of every side. Fans of the big Clubs are somewhat used to it now and seem to accept it as just what happens and the mantra "he who pays the piper calls the tune" is trotted out to justify the situation.
It's all too easy to stay at home or go to the pub to watch your team! There's that many games on TV - or streams available via spurious satellite links why should people bother with the hassle and expense of actually attending games in the flesh, let alone drag their weans along! Especially with daft early afternoon or weekend evening kick offs.
The way it's going in a little over a generation football Stadia will be half empty every week. People won't actually support teams. It's started already. Kids- not even just kids to be honest- "follow" loads of teams from lots of different leagues having never actually ever been anywhere near a football stadium, let alone inside one for a game.
Don't get me wrong, as a fan of the beautiful game, the almost blanket coverage of the sport and 24/7-365 access to up to date information is great but unless something is done quickly the working class game is going to eat itself and become a preserve of the well off with stadia almost exclusively populated by corporate customers paying big bucks to hob nob with their peers, instead of having terraces and stands rammed with passionate "working class" supporters who actually care about THEIR Club and its future more than the business deals being concluded over the steak or chicken in the corporate areas.
The Clubs themselves need to wake up and smell the coffee ! The millions being made from television and commercial sponsorship deals seem to be increasing their greed and admission prices are continuing to spiral out of control in an upwardly direction at an alarming rate, further alienating the rank and file supporters from their Club, which on the face of it seems odd as you'd expect turnstyle prices to decrease as corporate income increases.
Something has to be done before entire generations of youngsters are lost and never have the pleasure of experiencing the highs and lows of what is still, just about, The Beautiful Game!
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