Football isn't a TV Show

[Corky]

I've been thinking about this since the Super League was binned and all the talk that Sky are hypocrites, also to blame etc. They've been accused of saving the game and also killing the game (the truth, as ever, in probably in the middle) but I'd like to know from those who were around pre-Premier League (I was 2 when it commenced) what the game would've been like without serious investment? Was it a viable thing?

 

I know there's a lot of nostalgia around football but hooliganism was rife, tragedies occurring, lower attendances and, from seeing videos, dilapidated stadia (and unsafe looking, too). Could the game have continued as it was? Could it have prospered on a terrestrial TV contract in terms of updating grounds and then attracting new fans? I'm sure Sky's money helped to renovate and modernise grounds which is a huge plus despite some character being lost.

 

Was it the right investment but from the wrong people, maybe?

[Chrysalis]

Whilst I have watched most games on TV, the TV market should never ever take priority over match going fans in terms of direction of the game.  We should never forget the roots of football.

[Mr Weller]

Football was certainly declining in the 80s, just look at the attendances. Anyone who regrets the invention of the Premier League forgets this. Having said that this can be overstated, football still had a huge following and was very much the national game.

 

Having seen both eras I have to say the Premier League has been a great success and revitalised football but to say it saved it is perhaps too much. The communal experience has always appealed but TV helps people to connect when they can’t be there which actually increases interest so it can’t be a bad thing. However, for me, going to matches is the best of all worlds.