Football Disconnected

A study of how money has affected the culture of football.

Recommended websites, pages and accounts

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Whilst looking online, it is clear that there was no site compiling useful organisations football fans can turn to if they want to make a change in the game for the better using social media and the internet. When becoming frustrated at the goings-on at football clubs, fans can often feel helpless and feel like they aren’t able to have any kind of influence on proceedings. This is not the case and there are people and organisations out there to give fans the support they need. Below are a number of very useful websites, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages supporters can approach if they feel disillusioned at the practices of the team they support.

 

  • The Football Supporters’ Federation

http://www.fsf.org.uk/ 

https://www.facebook.com/thefsf/

http://www.twitter.com/The_FSF

  • Twentys Plenty

http://www.facebook.com/twentys.plenty.5/

http://www.twitter.com/twentys_plenty

  • The Non-League Paper

https://www.facebook.com/nonleaguepaper/

http://www.twitter.com/NonLeaguePaper

  • Football Fancast

https://www.facebook.com/FootballFanCast/

https://www.twitter.com/FootballFanCast

  • The Away Fans

https://www.twitter.com/theawayfans

  • Ball Street

http://www.ballstreetnetwork.com/bsn-brands-and-partners.html#home

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=167572739994535

https://www.twitter.com/BallStreet

  • Supporters Direct

http://www.supporters-direct.org/

https://www.facebook.com/supportersdirect/

https://www.twitter.com/SuppDirect

  • 38 Degrees 

https://home.38degrees.org.uk/

https://www.facebook.com/peoplepowerchange/

https://www.twitter.com/38_degrees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The good side of social media and football

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Now it’s time to talk about the good side of social media and football. As previously stated in a previous blog post about online streaming and social media highlights, the game is now reachable all over the internet in various ways. Social media has given a voice to the now voiceless football fan in a country full of clubs who give little consideration when making decisions to the most important part of any football club, the fans.

With the growing influence the internet and social media now has on football, fans have used it to get their views across to clubs over the past few years. A memorable example was the petition launched by the Football Supporters Federation back in 2013. The petition was calling on a cap on away match ticket prices at £20. Every fan’s signature triggered an email to the club they support and the league in which that club play, notifying them that they are behind the FSF’s campaign. The Twenty’s Plenty campaign was shared on Twitter and on Facebook, helping to bring the campaign to light to football fans around the country. Although many clubs did not listen, there have been some successes with Reading FC implementing the Twenty’s plenty format in the 2016/17 season. This is a rare thing for a Championship club with the average cost of the dearest away ticket in the Championship now more expensive than a Premier League ticket at £31.57. With ticket prices still an issue throughout the leagues, Twenty’s Plenty and other similar campaigns gain a lot of support online from fans, particularly on Twitter. Twitter’s a great way of organising protests and large groups of people to come together for a cause like ticket prices.

In the 2015/16 season Liverpool fans staged their first walkout at Anfield in 132 years over ticket prices. Their walkout was in the 77th minute after an increase in price of a match day ticket to £77 from £59 for the following season was announced prior to the game. The walkout gained a lot of attention on Twitter before, during and after the walkout which was a great way of raising awareness that fans are no longer accepting of the situation regarding ticket prices. Fans will have gained even more confidence from the protest after the club’s owners backed down from their ticket price change and froze ticket prices for this current season. Like Liverpool fans, Newcastle fans have staged similar protests against the way in which their club has been run. #AshleyOut was a protest organised through Twitter users and fans of the club which gained national attention before and after the game. Although relegated in the 2015/16 season, it seems as if the owner has either listened to the fans or had a change of heart for whatever reason and began to invest in the club once again.

Social media may have its problems when it comes to football but it is a platform that must be taken advantage of by fans across the country if they want to make the changes that are needed in the game. The pressure on clubs from supporters from social media campaigns and the national attention that comes with them is a formidable force that can affect football for the good.

The bad side of social media and football

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As previously discussed in this blog, social media has helped to bring the game into the lives of many fans across the country, but it is bound to have its flaws aswell. Football clubs, agents, players and advertisers have seen social media as a marketing platform which again creates the feeling amongst fans like they are now just consumers.

Rather than interact with fans, clubs on social media and in particular Twitter, seem to just want to sell overpriced merhchandise and show off their official sponsors to users. An example of this is Newcastle United’s Twitter account. It must be said the content on their Twitter page has improved this year and it hasn’t got Mike Ashley’s bargain offers all over it as much as it once did, but there are still issues with the way in which they operate. For example, almost every tweet which features a picture has the controversial Wonga logo embedded onto it, along with Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct logo. There was even one time where the club featured a tribute to somebody who had recently passed away by posting a picture but the Wonga logo still appeared in the corner of the image. This received an online backlash from Newcastle fans who rightly did not feel the club were representing the correct values and the values in which they hold. As stated before however, the club has improved the way in which it uses social media by cutting down the level of blatant advertising of products on behalf of Mike Ashley and also the level of interaction with fans has improved in the past year or so.

Something which hit the headlines in the past week was Manchester United player, Paul Pogba’s Twitter emoji. It may be a bit of fun but it sums up where the game has ended up in the modern era. In the days leading up to a crunch game against Liverpool, Pogba is worrying about Twitter emojis, instead of preparing himself for one of the biggest games of the season (certainly for the fans anyway). Paul Pogba in the game incidentally gave a penalty away and played terribly throughout, leading to ridicule on Twitter which made the whole situation even worse for him and Manchester United. Pogba is the world’s most expensive player so it would be wise for him to concentrate on putting in good performances on the pitch rather than engaging in bizarre social media trends. It obviously isn’t just Paul Pogba, but he encapsulates the disconnection between fans and players that is common place in 21st century football. His club also don’t help themselves by consistently reminding their fans of their mega money sponsorship deals on Twitter eithe,r with the latest being Uber but more memorable is the record £375 million Chevrolet deal they were so proud to announce. The Chevrolet logo is seen in a number of their Tweets, along with the club’s shirt where the logo dwarfs the Manchester United badge, perhaps being a symbol of how the game has now gone.

Are sponsors and money now more important than the traditions of the club and its fan base?

 

 

Online streaming and highlights

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With more and more fans being out-priced of going to see live games, many have turned to legal or illegal online streams of games over the years. Legal stream accessibility has improved over time with fans now able to watch streams from their phones and tablets, instead of only being able to watch a very low quality stream on their PC. Due to legal streams becoming a common way of viewing matches, the temptation of watching illegal streams on dodgy websites has declined in recent years which can only be a good thing for people’s computers.

Although rightly criticised for their influence over when games are now played, Sky have enabled their customers to watch games live from their phones using Sky Go. This makes it a lot easier for football fans to view games that they might not have been able to see at grounds because of ticket prices and other potential circumstances. New to the 16/17 season, Sky Sports are now allowed to post highlight videos on their SkyFootball Twitter account. This is a great way for football fans on Twitter to view highlights instantly without having to pay large sums of money to go to either see games at grounds across the country, but also not having to pay for subscriptions for Sky Sports or BT Sports for their TVs.

Sky have also effectively used Facebook as a way of showing highlights on match days where the videos appear on the news feeds of fans who have liked their page on the site. Although Sky might have their own reasons for posting these videos on social media, it cannot be denied that it’s allowing fans to view the game where they might not have been able to in the past, mainly down to financial reasons. The BBC have also harnessed social media as a way of bringing highlights or clips from BBC football programmes to their audience. They are however lagging behind Sky for obvious reasons as they do not have the rights to show Premier League or Football League matches so are unable to provide the same streaming service as Sky. Perhaps in the future, they may look to provide the opportunity of streaming FA Cup matches, although some may describe that as a further way of taking the magic away from the cup.

There is a perception of the modern football fan being an “armchair supporter”, somebody who only watches games on TV or now, on their mobile phone. This is an unfair criticism as the amount of money for even just one child ticket for a game is astronomical and that is across the leagues, not just the Premier League. If ticket prices were to be lowered to a fair amount of money, there may not be as many “armchair supporters” around. In the time being however, online streaming of games and viewing highlights via social media is not a bad thing. It is bringing the game to fans who might not have been able to see it otherwise and it is not right that fans are able to be denied their love of football because of ridiculous ticket prices.