GNASHING OF TEETH

Football club executives have spent the last decade or more ignoring the warnings from the likes of IMUSA and the Football Supporters Federation and now they have woken from their slumbers is it too late?

Observer

‘Keith Lamb, Middlesbrough's chief executive, articulates the fast-growing consensus among those who run the 20 Premiership clubs that changes need to be made. The time and often the day of Boro's first seven league games this season has been shifted so they can be shown live on Sky - 'Too many,' he says.

'The overexposure can have an effect on our attendances,' explains Lamb, who points out that only 28,000 saw the game against Arsenal, widely regarded as the most attractive team in English football. But then, it had been moved from 3pm on a Saturday to 5.15pm for a Sky screening. Plus, adds Lamb candidly: 'We all appreciate that for some, particularly those with families, the costs associated with football are proving prohibitive.'

Fans' growing disillusion is evident everywhere - Manchester United have sold out only one of their three Premiership home games so far - and that was the derby with City. Last weekend Charlton sold out against Chelsea only by letting their 18,000 season ticket-holders buy four extra seats for the match, rather than the usual two, and dropping the price from last season's £45 to a more affordable £35. 'We need to look seriously at the Premier League product,' says Peter Varney, Charlton's chief executive, 'examine current trends, make some changes, and do so in consultation with fans, the game's most important stakeholder.'’

So what has the Premier League done? Set up an attendance working party and invited the likes of Karl Evans and other club worthies along to discuss what to do. Not one supporter representative has been invited to the discussions – pathetic.