It is getting more and more difficult to support a football team without taking into consideration the actions of your clubs owners. Just 2 weeks ago Arsenal fans were united in joy as their team beat Chelsea to win their 14th FA Cup. It was a tremendous day for Arsenal fans around the world and just what they needed after a difficult season on the field. Just a few days later, Arsenal announced that 55 staff would be made redundant as a result of financial difficulties brought on by the Covid 19 crisis. It is important to emphasize that this development should not take away from Mikel Arteta and his players achievement on Saturday. However, it certainly took the gloss of what should have been a celebratory week.
During this difficult time, community and kindness could hardly be more important. Perhaps it’s a young family shopping for their elderly neighbour or cafes delivering food to the vulnerable. Maybe it’s even a man out for a walk smiling or saying hello to the passing jogger or dog walker. Many of us have become more compassionate human beings as a result of this pandemic and have displayed this kindness in a number of ways. Unfortunately, this compassion has not been displayed consistently throughout the challenging period. For example, here in Ireland, asylum seekers are still treated as despicably as they were before the crisis. Across the Irish seas, the British government have been accused of showing a lack of leadership which perhaps contributed to the high death rate. While Arsenal’s decision to let go 55 staff go is not exactly comparable to the above examples, it shows a distinct lack of a moral compass.
Its important to remember that the 55 people who lost their jobs are not just cogs in a machine, they are human beings. Too often, business and the thirst for profit and financial wealth is used as an excuse to treat people like objects. Perhaps it’s a naive idea but workers should always be treated as humans, first and foremost. The wellbeing and fair treatment of loyal staff should always be the priority. These principles are quickly being forgotten and people are becoming more disposable. While, there is potential here to delve into a discussion about how big business’ operate, we will concentrate on the footballing side, for now.
People will be quick to point out that football clubs are business’- this is undeniable. However, it is also a pretty redundant thing to say. A football club is more than just a business. It is a source of love for so many people around the world. For some people, it occupies their mind every day and plays a huge part of their lives. For others, it provides some light entertainment at weekends. Club’s are quick to emphasize the importance of this community when it suits them. However, when it comes to cutting costs, this is very quickly forgotten. Arsenal’s official statement which announced the 55 redundancies attempted to pull at the heart strings of Arsenal fans reading it. There was a clear attempt to portray the redundancies as a last resort when in fact, they could have surely been avoided. The owner, Stan Kroenke, is a multi billionaire and could have easily intervened to prevent people losing their jobs.
It is easy to mark these people out as ‘unessential’ or disposable because that’s the way a business operates but a football club is so different to your typical business. Without wanting to resort to cliches, some of the victims of Arsenals cull are the life and soul of the club. It has still not been made clear who exactly lost their jobs but match day staff are likely to be among them. Perhaps some of whom are stewards who keep us safe while we watch our team play or maybe they are catering staff who serve us a much needed half time snack. Whoever these unfortunate people are, they have contributed greatly to Arsenal over a vast number of years and deserve better. It is quite obvious that they are not going to be earning the extravagant wages of some of the playing staff. This will have hit some very hard and as football club who have always been renowned for doing ‘the right thing’ in ‘the Arsenal way’ this was a pretty callous move.
It should be emphasised that despite the tone of the first three paragraphs, this article is not intended to be critical of Arsenal as a football club. A quick browse of the official website will tell you about all the wonderful charitable work the club do in the community. The issue is that this sense of generosity and decency demonstrated by clubs does not extend to the ownership (most of the time) and unfortunately, owners are becoming more powerful. From the Manchester City’s owners alleged links to the slave trade to Mike Ashley and the variety of reports suggesting mistreatment of staff in Sports Direct. The game is being ruled over by the ethically ambiguous and murky dealings have become commonplace. The issue is not so much that football has become a business, rather, the more prevalent problem is the type of business it is becoming. There are numerous examples of small business, both here in Ireland and around the world, who fought to protect staff amid all the chaos and uncertainty and keep them safe on their return to work. Unfortunately, many, including some far larger and more profitable company have been less charitable. The point being, football becoming more business-like is not necessarily a bad thing if the business is ethical and reasonable. The more you read football news, the more it becomes apparent that is not the case.
A very simple example of football clubs detaching themselves from fans and people is the price of match tickets. Of course, prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, match day attendances remained high but as the price of tickets rise, the normal everyday fan is being pushed away and being replaced by tourists and corporate types. The notion of football clubs being at the heart of a community is a slowly dying idea and fans and staff are suffering as a result. Running a major business should not excuse you from treating people with respect and dignity and football clubs need to remember why they exist and who they represent. Football is a very simple game about people. 11 men playing against each other in a 90 minute game, each bidding to outscore the other as fans watch on. From the grounds man who perfect the pitch to the father taking his child to their first game, this game relies on the hard work and loyalty of decent people. It’s about time they start taking that into account.
TheGoonerStation 