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Introduction
Stephen Morrow in the book “The People’s Game? Football, Finance and Society” is exploring some questions, like “how the economical and social changes, occurred in the game, influenced the relations between football clubs and their communities, but the question he uses is aimed at answering the more global one i.e. “Can football, with all the commercialized changes be regarded as a “People’s game”?” The ideas, expressed by the author in his book are also being studied by the other theorists, economists and competent people, like sport sociologists. Consequently, the book fits in the context of their books, concerned with both the same and different aspects of the same problem. All authors agree in their views and several books boil down to expressing a big doubt whether football is really “the people’s game” or not.
Main body
In Chapter one, the rapidly changing finances of club football of Europe is explored in the given book as well as in Simon Banks’s “Going Down: Football Crisis”, which is concerned with the hard times for football clubs, paradoxically coinciding with the good times and turnovers received by the games thanks for sponsorship, television broadcasts and attendance of the games. Stephen Szymanki also mentions the revenue arising from the Television rights and merchandising of the clubs franchise and brand of products has been the force behind ever increasing profit margins of these clubs.
In chapter two, Morrow highlights that the drive for search of profits has eclipsed the social side of football clubs as social institutions.Overwhelming emphasis is placed on the business objectives of the football clubs now that some of the largest football clubs have become public limited companies. In Sean Hamil’s book the idea is further developed. He stresses that the growing commercialization, which covers such topics as fans being becoming shareholders, with a say in the running of the clubs causes harm. Thus, the prices of tickets are sky rocketing, more and more poor supporters from community are locked of the game.
Notwithstanding that football is unique from other businesses and this can be seen through its competitive nature i.e. between football clubs and the clubs and their supporters.(Banks, 2002, pg 35), it is becoming more market- and business-oriented.
Chapter three of Morrows book highlights on the organizational and ownership of the club structures of those clubs that have exhibited proper balance between management, results and community policing. Greenfield and Osborn observe that the competitive nature of football should have uniformity so that it does not lose its value and appeal.
In chapter four it is observed, that there has been a gap where less adequate communication of financial information has been reported to the supporters and fans of these football clubs. The author blames the media for being in the lead of providing either pseudo information, or not-so-well researched one, or just lack of in-depth analysis of the financial positions of the football clubs. From his selected cases, the willingness of the directors to involve stakeholders as they recognize the benefits of a good relationship between them is evidenced. It should therefore be taken into account that there are many supporters who are willing to change and support more successful clubs. (Szymanski and Kuypers, 2000, pg. 190).
In his final chapter, the author highlights the importance of involving stakeholders in financial issues by providing accurate and reliable financial information as the game has become more of a business. This calls for proper forms of communicating and reporting this information as it is a cause of concern when improper, inaccurate and incomplete financial information is given as this plays an important role when it comes to making wise investment decisions by the fans. Some of the uncommon methods employed in raising funds by clubs include securitization of gate receipts and sale or leaseback of players. In the same respect, the monographic analysis made by economists, Dobson and Goddard is concerned with the economic governing at the European sports. Based on rigorous economic study this work explores contradictions of the governing with economic theory and suggests ways out of the state.
Morrow concludes, that football can only remain a ‘people’s game’ if the people i.e. stakeholders are included and involved in the game and are made to understand the evolvement of football both as a sport and as a business. The culture of inclusiveness has to be promoted by managers. He hopes that clubs will be inspired to adapt new standards and adopt best practice as seen from the examples of those clubs that are successful. (Dobson. and Goddard 2001,pg 662-668).
No doubt, that the book offers a detailed look into the changing nature of football as a business. It’s therefore a good reference in understanding football as a business and the effects it has had on the fans and stakeholders. However, commercialization of football is dynamic with significant changes observed since the book was published. These changes can be seen where some of the big clubs drop from the stock market as well as decrease in their profits. (Sugden and Tomlinson’s, 2002, pg. 4) And still, the book remains its contemporary significance and can be used as a fundamental study in this area.
Conclusion
The interrelation of the book by Morrow with the books, written by the authors, exploring the same field of study is obvious. Morrow’s book can be easily integrated in the context of other books as they supply each other with the information, been studied from different aspects. Economists, theorists, and readers in the sociology of sports forth many salient arguments, that football is becoming less people-oriented, more commercialized, making clubs public limited companies and preventing the original nature of football from being a real competition, using different schemes. The main question, explored through a number of other questions still remains ”whether the people will be able to change the priorities of the club or whether the business aims will prevail with profitability still high?”
References
Banks, S. (2002) Going Down: Football in Crisis, Edinburgh: Mainstream.
Conn, D. (2006), The Beautiful Game: searching for the soul of football, Edinburgh: Mainstream.
Dobson, S. and Goddard, J. (2001) The Economics of Football, Cambridge: C.U.P.
Greenfield S and Osborn G (2001) Regulating Football: Commodification, Consumption and the Law (London: Pluto Press).
Hamil, S., et al. (1999) A Game of Two Halves: The Business of Football, London: Routledge.
Sugden, J and Tomlinson, A, (1998), ‘FIFA and the Contest for World Football – Who Rules the People’s Game?‘, Polity Press: Cambridge.
Symanski, S. and Kuypers, T. (1999) Winners and Losers: the Business Strategy of Football, London: Penguin.
Szymanski, S. and Zimbalist, A. (2005), National Pastime: how Americans play baseball and the rest of the world plays soccer, The Brookings Institute.
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