Now that an Icelandic consortium has taken control of West Ham United, a quarter of Premiership clubs are owned by foreign investors.
Does that matter? I think most football fans would agree that it does, even if they can't quite pinpoint why. I recently read an excellent book called The Beautiful Game, by investigative journalist David Conn. In it he explores the impact that money has had on the game.
He also recounts the history of football in this country - I didn't know that most football clubs were originally formed as mutual organisations, (that's why their called clubs) and until recently, directors were unable to make any money out of their involvement. How times have changed.
There is hope. Barcelona - with their affordable ticket prices and lack of advertising on their shirts (other than Unicef), demonstrate how a club can be mutually owned and successful. Across the UK football fans have formed Supporters Trusts - mutual organisations which pool fans' shares in a club to enable them to have a bigger say in how their club is run. As someone once said, football is the most important unimportant thing in the world - and the way the Premiership is going needs to be challenged. The FA doesn't seem too bothered by what's happening - so it's up to the fans to take control.
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