Do you find the Premiership boring?

There has been a lot of discussion in newspapers and media outlets in England about the Premiership being dull and boring this season. With a number of teams switching to the ultra-conservative 4-5-1 formation and Chelsea running away with the title so early in the season, the interest level seems to have gone down.

I personally have enjoyed watching Fulham play this season. Last season they were a bit dull and such, but this year, they are playing to win. However, I cannot say the same thing about a lot of other teams in the league.

As someone like myself who watches most every Premiership match, there have been a number of dull matches this season. Teams like Everton, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Bolton, Chelsea and Liverpool are teams that come to mind when it comes to boring matches. While I still sit through them, they are not the most entertaining events.

In addition to this factor, fans in England are not coming out to the stadiums as much as in past years? While prices are a big factor in this problem, I have to think that the dull play of teams is a major contributing factor as well.

What are everyone's thoughts on the Premiership this season? Why are fans staying at home? Is it simply just the high prices or is it the style of play as well? When answering, don't just think about Fulham, but the entire league.

 

It's very complicated:

Prices

Defensive play (to not lose)

TV coverage

Fan restraint (like the recent discussion on sitting and standing)

Carryover of phony "youre wearing the opponents colors" in a home section.
- Like SO WHAT!!! Mexico fans and USA fans were interspersed in the Cols game and it was all very good natured... though they were pretty glum as the game went on... made it all the richer!
- - - - -- - - - - -
ALL combine to make it easier to just watch the game at home

HD becoming more mainstream will just make it worse. You'll know it for sure when NHL coverage on HDTV gets good ratings.

 

The Premiership is not boring. Boring football is Serie A now that is boring right there. Serie A is defense first attack 2nd unless the team is Inter then its attack first. Most of the Premiership games have been entertaining so far this season. While teams like Bolton and Everton are not that fun to watch. There are teams like Fulham,Wigan,West Ham,Man Utd,Arsenal etc that are fun to watch. While people are saying well the Scum are running away with the title well thats not the only race. Last season we all watched West Brom stay in the Premiership in the last game and this season could be the same type of relegation battle. Last season we watched 2 local rivals fight for the last CL spot this season there could be a battle between a number of teams for the spot in Europe same with the UEFA Cup. The Premiership is the most exciting league in the world IMO.

As for attendances being down well every league in Europe(Except Bundesliga) have attendence problems.Ever seen a Juventus game? They cant even sell out when the best team in Italy comes to town. They had like 20,000 people at some of the CL games last year. In Spain most of the Stadiums are not full. Plus, there was the Ashes while the season started. The Ashes were on the back page almost every day and most of the fans watched that and focused on that. By the middle of the season there will probably be more people at the games and there will be races to avoid relegation and even a title race.

 

I agree that the relegation battles and the races for the Champions League and UEFA Cup spots are quite intriguing. I wish the race for the title was more competitive, but it is not and will not be for at least a few seasons.

I do not know if I agree that people will start flocking back to the stadiums this season. Perhaps the bigger clubs will not have problems selling out stadiums, but clubs like Boro, Bolton, Fulham, Birmingham City, etc will be the teams that struggle to get consistent large crowds. I hope people start coming out, especially to Fulham.

 

I think hardcore fans will attend matches despite a drop in quality or rise in price. So, I have to believe that it's the "casual fans" who are to blame for the drop in attendance. The casual fan likes football, but isn't sold on a particular team. This fan will migrate to greener (in his/her mind) pastures, whether another club or maybe even another sport (cricket, for example).

Casual fans (read: bandwagon jumpers) are all about attending a spectacle not only to enjoy it, but to brag about it later. Especially to brag about it later. I'll bet there are plenty of people like this who frequent Spambored Fridge. Not sure what we, or Boro/Bolton/Brum, can do except start playing (or keep playing) creative attacking football.

 

I've also heard arguements pointed towards the scheduling of the games. I wish I could find the article on FSC's website, but they gave examples of some of the Monday night games that required fans to leave work mid-day and hit the road to attend (Fulham/Arsenal derby, notwithstanding). Also, I know that a few games have had the scheduled times changed after they were originally posted, so I know that would tend to cause some travel issues too. I know this would affect casual fans more than the diehards, but I'm sure it would lead to a slight decrease in attendance.

 

Good point, Jux. The scheduling of games can be downright frustrating, definitely not user-friendly.

I'm sure that all football fans would prefer a return to Saturday as game day, with normal kickoff times.

 

Alas, if this were to happen, the TV revenues would drop substantially... in the same way that college football is on nearly every day from Tuesday through Saturday now, the Premiership teams need the stand-alone, non-weekend game to increase the opportunity to make it onto Sky/FSC/PPV.

And as a fan who is rarely home on Saturdays (Gopher football games), I like the random Wednesday afternoon game... gives me an excuse to sneak out of the office early, hit the pub, and still make it home by 5:00 PM.

I'm very much a go-to-the-game type of guy, so if I lived in London, I'd find my way to the Cottage all the time... but most fans want to see "the big game"...

 

BBC did a non-scientific survey on their website a couple of weeks ago to get at the reasons for dropping attendance. Cost was the overwhelming reason people gave. Most did not complain about boring play although some cited the increased number of TV games. When you look at the prices and the cost of travel in England, it's not too surprising that people have to limit the number of games they attend in person.

 

Just as a side note:

I received the London papers today (as I do every week due to a Fulham fan - Thanks Martin) and it had a very interesting article about the crowds, or should I say, the lack there of. I'll scan it and throw it on the site...it explains the issue from top to bottom.

 

I think the main reasons for low attendence numbers are high prices and weird kick-off times. Sometimes when I'm working on photoshop stuff I listen to the 606 phone-in show on Five Live and a large number of callers enjoy complaining about the kick-off times, especially the early Sunday games.

Also, previously stated above by FFC24, according to the online sports sites I scan through regularly, it seems that currently many people in England are caught up with cricket at the moment.

 

Over exposure.

 

I think you've got it!

In more ways than one

1. Too many teams in the Prem

1a. Too many games

- Cut the Prem teams to 16, games to 24

2 Build a UEFA League schedule, They DONT play in Prem:
a. top team in prev year per country qualifies, plus top three in Prem. Unless say, Arse meets Chelsea in UEFA final.. THEN just Prem top two.
b. UEFA League tv is pay Per View ONLY Except the final or even PPV that.

3. TV - People want their teams on the tube.. BUT Blackout Home games not sold out. It IS technically feasible.

4. Draw for the Various Cups...Prem teams only allowed ONE.

This would accomplish a couple of end results... avoid player exhaustion. Encourage local attendance rather than bandwagon followings