Sport

Who Owns Our Beautiful Game?

Global capital is threatening a takeover of the essence of football – but it’s that essence that makes the sport such a commodity, writes James Bloodworth

Football still looks much as it did when I first fell in love with it in the early 1990s.

There are 22 players, two goals, and a referee. Supporters still sing the same songs, complain about the same injustices, and pass allegiances down through families like treasured heirlooms. At Anfield, where my team, Liverpool, has played for all my life, the Kop still rises behind one of the goals and ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ booms out before kick-off.

Yet, almost everything surrounding those 90 minutes has changed.

The great English clubs were once institutions rooted overwhelmingly in particular places. Their supporters lived near the stadium, worked in the surrounding factories, docks and offices, and passed through the same turnstiles every other Saturday.