To the English bloke, football is more than just a game. It is a community. For many, an escape. The football stadium is the holy ground for fans, where emotions run deep, and memories are made with family and friends.
The English football league system has nine tiers and is the largest in the world. But clubs, right from the bottom to the top, cannot operate without the participation of fans. Fans are what makes football tick, economically and fundamentally. That being said, the average season ticket price this season at Manchester City is £915. With a considerable cost of living crisis, and tickets only increasing in price, is this realistically affordable to the average working man? And what does this say about the future of English football?
Football used to be a safe haven for the working class. A community built on experiences. Beyond this, football brings prosperity to English cities. It brings travelling fans who drink and spend in places they would not usually. Football is more than just football in England – fans rely upon their football clubs heavily as a means of escape in a nation dominated by austerity.
The ownership of Manchester United has not been short of controversy recently. On the 9th of March 2025, thousands of fans took to the streets following a ticket price increase to £66 and 450 staff redundancies, aiming to curb the club’s £131 million in annual losses.
Despite this, the Manchester United ownership continues to pay some players hundreds of thousands a week. What message does this send to the fans of the club? Leaving 450 staff without jobs – the pillar of the club – in an attempt to curb net loss. The obvious answer is to pay the players less. Where is the allegiance to the fans that football clubs used to invest in?
The answer to this is redefining ownership. Football clubs should shift away from a profit-maximising mentality and focus on rebuilding their relationships with the loyal supporters who are essential to the club’s existence. Without a loyal fan base, a football club simply cannot thrive.
The German football association got this right. In 1998, they introduced a ‘50+1’ rule, ensuring that outside investors cannot take control. Instead, the club’s members retain a majority stake, holding at least 50% plus one of the voting rights, preserving the connection between the club and its supporters.
In order to rekindle the football relationship that we once had, things in the world of English football have to change. If clubs inevitably continue to put prices up to maximise profits, we will see much less participation from the local fans and the community, who will either sit at home and watch it or become disillusioned. We really do need to reignite a spark in English football.
