How Do You Make The Playing Field Level?

I do wonder if the generation before mine, had got it right, yes I know they will say life was harder then, maybe but I do believe most people lived within their means. The woman stayed at home and only one wage coming in and the woman's day really would have been a full one, doing the washing by hand, doing proper cooking that would include making bread, fruit cakes and so much more.

Money may well have been tight, but everything was saved up for and the attitude was, if you did not have the money to pay for anything, you just went without. I do think that growing up was better in those days, you never expected much and what you did get was so much more valued, the kids today ain't happy unless they are getting some present that costs big bucks and they all want it yesterday.

I have lived my life the way of my parents, maybe one day I'll have that great feeling. I shared with my brother once, when he picked from the garage a brand new car, but until I can pay for it, without having some big HP deal around my neck, I'm happy to drive my secondhand car. I do know that on the odd few times when I did not have any work, I did not have those great big worries that many have had to deal with, as they try and work out how they are going to pay the bills.

My son is not like me, he comes from the next generation, the one where they only live for today and do not think about tomorrow, got to have it now and worry how to pay for it later and I do believe if the world had stuck to how it once was, it would not be in the mess it finds it is in now.

Football clubs are no different, paying out big wages that far outstrip income and as a result the total debt owed by clubs stands at over 3 billion and its all done in the name of results and trying to match the expectations of the fans, who only want their club to be winning leagues and cups. Clubs trying to buy success with money they do not have and those in charge end up running the real risk of the club folding and maybe disappearing for ever.

It could be down to the idea that if you speculate and pay big wages to get the best players, then get promoted, you will get more fans who then will be paying more money into the club and somewhere it will all balance out, but does that ever really happen? Many clubs have tried things that way and found out the hard way that if often does not and while many moaned about Bateson, the club under him lived within its means, but as a result had no ambition and you felt it would go nowhere.

Wage capping is coming back in I believe, the only reason it will is to try and make sure clubs do live within their means, 60% only of income must be spent on wages and clubs will get punished if they do not stick to it by going over the wage cap.There is always the danger that by having a wage cap, you end up driving some payments underground, it has happened before and you can bet some club or other will try it again.

The problem as we know is that wage caps can give bigger clubs with higher incomes a greater advantage over small cubs who only have small incomes, so they are able to offer higher wages and you would think, get the pick of the best players and as a result the bigger club would have a much stronger team and one that stands more chance of being successful.

If you look at F1 this season, you will see many rule changes etc, the main aim is to try and make all the cars equal and not just the top teams having cars that out perform the smaller teams, it should then come down to the drivers skill and not just that faster car that in the past has been the difference.

So how can you get a more level paying field in a football league that has a wage cap in place, how can those small clubs compete with the bigger ones out on the pitch.Well the first thing you may say, is that the small club really needs to find away to great improve its income and it would have to try and get more paying fans, or find ways to make the ground earn more money, much like our club is trying to do with Boots and the swans nest etc.

The problem is that its not that easy to do that and the smaller clubs will have to look at having a much smaller squad and could even end up with a mix of full time and par time players, to keep within the cap. Merse has said before that some players who are part time in the BSP, may well have a well paid job outside football and would be unlikely to want to move that far from the club they play for and would not go full time anyway as they could end up worse off.

So some clubs would even struggle to get the better part time players to join them and what are they going to do then? well I think there could be answer, but would the fans of that club ever buy the idea and would still give their support going through the turnstiles.?

I'm sure there are many very talented young players, who really want to try and become a pro player, but as clubs have looked only to get in the very best they could get, these young players have struggled to get into clubs and many must just be playing on local parks somewhere. Could a smaller club not build a team from young players like these? just think they might even find a real gem or two, who could earn that club some extra funds.They would be full time and earning say £250 per a week, but would be happy to do so as it may just give them the chance to move onto bigger and better thinks.

Maybe its a mad idea really, but clubs who are only getting gates of 600 at home games are never going to have any players like we have at our club at this time and when you think how young and unknown many of the Aldershot players were, to me it could make sense and even work.

Anyway do you have ideas? or will it just always be the case that the bigger clubs will always have such a big advantage over the much smaller ones.