Learning to love football's 'big four'
Updated on 06 August 2009
Far from being turned off by an unequal division, football fans secretly relish the dominance of the so-called "big four", according to a new book which investigates some of the game’s most popular clichés.
The book, called Why England Lose, says that fears football fans are bored with the dominance of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal are completely unfounded.
By pulling together research the book’s authors, Simon Kuper and Stephan Szymanski, put forward a compelling argument for why fans actually prefer “David versus Goliath” competitions, rather than more egalitarian leagues such as America’s NFL.
The claims are supported by a raft of statistics, including the fact that during football's “fair” era between 1949 and 1968 – when 11 different teams won the first division title – overall attendance actually dropped from a total of 18m to 15m.
By contrast, in the “unfair” era in which just six different teams have won the title between 1989 and today, overall crowds in the top flight grew again from 8m to 13m.
It says that in 2006/7 29.5m people paid to see professional football in England, the highest number since 1970, while the vast majority of teams’ crowds have grown since the advent of the Premier League in 1992.
“Fans will watch their teams play in leagues which they haven’t a hope of winning,” say the authors, something that will not come as a surprise to most football fans.
The book does draw the distinction between fans who watch the game on TV, and those who attend the games however. Research suggests that while TV viewers prefer a more “equal” contest, hardcore supporters who go to games revel in being the underdogs, and having a “dynasty” to dislike.
“Much of the meaning of supporting West Ham, for instance, derives from disliking Manchester United…big bad United make the league more fun,” the book claims, with an implication some Hammers fans are sure to resent.
The book also says: “Contrary to popular opinion, football was unbalanced in the past too, but before the 1990s fewer people complained.”
It concludes that the main reason for fans’ complaints now is that inequality is based on money – an advantage gained by having a billionaire owner rather than appointing a genius manager such as Brian Clough.
The book tackles other issues such as that in its title, why football clubs always lose money, the death of the FA Cup, and city sizes compared to football prizes.
