Football Manifesto – Vision for Change

Posted by Rob Shepherd on Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Well it doesn’t seem like two minutes since we were last asked to decide a Brexit or other important issue by the very people we pay to make those decisions for us. So rather than you guys get bored, I thought I would create my own manifesto on changes in football. Let’s make football great again! Vote for me!

As a fat, middle aged Englishman, I’m entitled to moan! I see it as a rite of passage as I become the typical grumpy old man that I’m destined to become. While I love the beautiful game it does have some ugly aspects. So here are my proposals to make football fun again.

Goals Mean Points

I propose we give bonus league points added for goals scored, this would encourage attacking play. I feel that an extra two points should be available, 1 bonus point for 3 goals scored and an extra for more than 3.

I did consider having unlimited points available but it might get a bit silly, Manchester United beat Ipswich once 9-0 and Tottenham beat Wigan 9-1 but then again, why not? I would much rather see a 5-5 draw than a 0-0 any day of the week.

While we are on the subject of draws, I believe one of the South American leagues had a system where if the game was a draw, it would go to penalties. If you win on penalties, you gained 2 points and you still received one point if you lost on penalties. I like this idea, again, anything to stop 0-0’s.

Unlimited Youth Substitutions

Our success at the U20’s World Cup was special; the fear is most of these players will never get game time and be forced into the lower leagues or loaned out their whole careers (I’m looking at you Chelsea!). One solution to this would be to allow 3 substitutes during the game but also allow additional substitutions for youth players.

Salary Caps

I thought long and hard on this issue, the problem is it’s almost impossible to implement unless everyone agrees to it, which is unlikely. You do worry about football, when an 18-year-old can earn in a fortnight what most in society earn in a lifetime. I yearn for the old days when players would get the same bus to the ground as supporters, there is such a disconnect now.

The optimist in me would like to think that a voluntary agreement could be put in place with the Premier League clubs to restrict pay for under 21’s.

But with players like 18-year-old Kylian Mbappé who is likely to cost over £100 million when he is transferred, would the English clubs agree to this arrangement if it means missing out on future world class stars? I doubt it.

Scrap the Offside Rule in Testimonials

This thought occurred to me recently whilst watching Michael Carrick’s testimonial. I love it when legends play and I feel there could be a market in a tournament format featuring the greats (like the Masters but a full team).

Time catches up with us all in the end so what I propose is that we scrap the offside rule for these games. It would cut down on running so reducing the risk that one of the old timers drops while playing.

Now before I get besieged by comments about long ball football, I don’t care. I am already planning for a career as a “legends” manager and I am going to contact Kristof von Hout (6ft 10”), Paul Millar (6ft 10”), Tor Hogne Aaroy (6ft 8”) and Peter Crouch (6ft 7”) and tell them to sit and play cards on the penalty spot and wait for the hoof.

Strip Qatar of the World Cup

The world gasped in shock when Qatar were awarded the 2018 World Cup. I didn’t gasp, I wasn’t even surprised. FIFA was a rotten, corrupt, puss filled scab on the face of football and despite all the “reforms”, I still believe they are.

Awarding Qatar the World Cup smells fishier than Grimsby on a hot day, it’s all about the money.

However, as you are probably aware, tensions are extremely high amongst Arab countries and Saudi Arabia are one of the countries who have imposed a blockage of the country. Saudi Arabia accuses Qatar of supporting terrorism and said in an article the blockade was due to Qatar’s “embrace of various terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at destabilising the region”.

Can a World Cup be held in those conditions? Surely not! Of course, I can recommend a country that would be willing to host a World Cup at short notice. A country that has the best stadiums, best facilities and more importantly invented the game!

Bring football home.

Stop Pestering, Undesirable, Nothing Kick-offs

As part of my manifesto, I am launching S.P.U.N.K!

That stands for “Stop Pestering, Undesirable, Nothing Kick-offs” and as part of this campaign I would scrap international friendlies during the football season. I struggle to find anyone that enjoys International friendlies at the expense of a club game.

Off season, knock yourself out! Have friendlies every week, I would watch them to stop the no football boredom, hey I might even enjoy it.