Since the start of the Premier League in 1992 when the country’s leading sides broke away from the Football League, the lucrative television rights that feed the game have given today’s players a Millionaire lifestyle that’s the envy of those who pay to watch them ply their trade.

At the big clubs in particular, like Manchester United and Chelsea, players can expect to earn in excess of £100,000 per week and the glory they enjoy on the field of play is reflected in the trappings of success that they enjoy off of it.

Mansion-style homes, designer clothing, the fanciest restaurants and expensive cars have become the trademark of the modern football player. But for many of these well-rewarded young men the icing on the cake remains the beautiful girlfriend, and in a world where celebrity status seems to come so much easier than it did before, many of their chosen partners have famous lifestyles of their own.

Wifes of Football Players

Such is the status of these young ladies, the British media have even given them their own name – WAGS, an acronym of Wives and Girlfriends – and many are almost as recognisable as their famous sporting partners.

Although the WAG is a fairly new ingredient in the life of the modern footballer, the joining of celebrity footballer and celebrity partner has been around for years. Perhaps the earliest of note was the marriage of former England captain Billy Wright, who married Joy Beverley in 1958 at the height of her fame with ‘The Beverley Sisters’ – The ‘girl-band’ of their day.

Almost a whole half-century later, and the most famous celebrity couple in football just happen to be a former England captain and the wife he met while she was playing in a girl band of her own!

Victoria Beckham, wife of International footballing icon David Beckham, first met her husband after attending a match at Manchester United whilst at the height of her fame with The Spice Girls. Affectionately known as Posh Spice, Victoria has enjoyed much success in her own right including a solo pop career, modelling, her own fashion range and even her own range of perfumes and sunglasses. David continues to play football at the highest level, and his recent move to Milan has seen the couple become very-much part of the Italian social scene.

Most recently, Victoria has become the face of Armani lingerie and has modelled the range herself in a series of darkly seductive pictures with David by her side. The couple have three children. Brooklyn (10), Romeo (7) and Cruz (4) and are estimated to have a personal fortune of £112 million.

While England International Wayne Rooney was breaking records for become the youngest player to score for his club side, Everton, Coleen McLoughlin still at secondary school where her mother worked as a part-time cleaner. Since then, Coleen has become a major celebrity in her own right. She is a columnist for the world-renowned OK magazine, has presented several of her own television shows and is currently the face for LG electronics in a deal worth £500,000 a year.

Coleen caused a major controversy when she appeared in British ‘Vogue’ magazine with many in the fashion industry viewing her as unworthy of such an accolade. The magazine defended its decision with editor Alexandra Shulman labelling Coleen as ‘beautiful’ and having her own ‘brilliant sense of style.

Wayne and Coleen married in Portofino in 2008, and are expecting their first child in October.

Controversial starlet Abi Clancy continues to make headlines, and not just because of her long-term romance with the Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch. The former singer made the news for all the wrong reasons after being sent home in disgrace from the WAG group that followed their parters to the 2006 World Cup amidst allegations of cocaine use and cheating on Crouch.

The couple split for a short time, with Abi dating actor Jason Statham during 2007. The relationship was short-lived, and the former finalist in ‘Britain’s Next Top Model’ was soon back with Peter. This year, Abi beat off competition from a host of beauties to win the title of ‘Sexiest Wag’ in Zoo magazine. The couple are frequently photographed on the London nightclub circuit and appear to be going from strength to strength as a couple.

For many, however, the new Queen of the WAGS is the immensely likeable Cheryl Cole who found fame as a winning finalist in ‘Popstars – The Rivals’. Cheryl went on to form the hit pop group Girls Aloud and reached the summit of celebrity when she entered a relationship with Ashley Cole of Chelsea and England fame.

The couple have faced a host of personal problems since they married in 2006, particularly in the wake of revelations that Ashley was having affairs with three other women. The couple split for several months, but appear to have put their differences behind them. Cheryl now works as a judge on the British version of The X-Factor’ alongside Simon Cowell, and was voted as Heat magazine’s ‘Sexiest Female’ in 2008.

This year may see a new couple come to the fore as WAG culture continues to dominate the British headlines. Carly Zucker currently works as a fitness trainer in London, and has also carried out modelling work for an assortment of fitness and fashion magazines. She was also a contestant in British reality TV show ‘I’m a Celebrity – Get Me out of Here’ in 2008 where she the third contestant to be voted off the show.

Carly is married to Chelsea and England midfielder Joe Cole, and is the face of the new ‘Lynx’ campaign where she has appeared in TV commercials as a scantily-clad cavewoman. When the couple wed in June 2009, Carly appeared in the newspapers wearing a £10,000 wedding dress designed by Oscar de la Renta.

Perhaps the last word on WAG culture can be left with the late, great George Best who was as famous for his off-field antics with various young ladies as he was for his on-field heroics for Manchester United. In an interview about his fast-living lifestyle, George quipped “I spent a lot of money on booze, women and fast cars. I just squandered the rest!”.

Southampton fans are spitting blood after Matt Le Tissier’s dream to head up his old club was smashed. Le Tissier was at the helm of the Pinnacle Group which had stuck by its bid for several weeks despite a succession of hurdles. But now, it appears, the Football League has gone one step too far in its demands and the consortium has officially withdrawn.

It leaves administrator Mark Fry still searching for a new owner although, if rumours are true, a Swiss group is now expressing its interest. Hopefully, Southampton fans will soon have something to celebrate and get over their disappointment that Le Tissier won’t be returning to the club. He was a grand and loyal servant in his playing days and, if the Pinnacle Group had succeeded, it would have put some sparkle back into Southampton.

It would appear that the main stumbling block to the Pinnacle bid was the ten-point penalty which the club must endure at the start of the season following the parent company’s administration at the end of April.

Le Tissier and co had apparently accepted this but the Football League were trying to impose a range of conditions, including a veto on the right to appeal over the points’ deduction. “With the ongoing issues with the Football League persisting, our backers have simply refused to provide the requisite funds,” said a disappointed Le Tissier.
“We were unaware of the issues with the Football League when we entered into our agreement to buy the club and then coming to light so late has resulted in the backer’s decision not to proceed.”

So what happens next, is the big question everyone associated with the club wants answering. Will the administrator struggle to find a new owner if tough conditions still persist? Let’s face it, the ten point deduction is never going to be reversed so what was the point of insisting the Pinnacle Group agreed to no appeal? Leeds found out to their cost that the rules would not be changed and Southampton would have had to accept their fate.

In today’s economic climate, it’s hard enough finding the cash to keep clubs going, let alone find a buyer who is prepared to bail one out after a collapse. The Football League should have snapped up the Pinnacle Group and training could have got underway this week with a new-found confidence for the future. As it is, there may well be weeks of negotiations ahead and a season of uncertainty for the faithful fans.

Hopefully, if this Swiss consortium pursues its interests, the Football League will be a bit more flexible and not scupper another deal. In the end, it’s Southampton, the fans and the club who will suffer the most.

You’ve got to hand it to Alex Ferguson, the man knows how to do business when it comes to selling players. No, I’m not talking about Cristiano Ronaldo’s inevitable £80m move to Real Madrid, I’m talking about Fraizer Campbell’s potential £6m move to Hull City.

What exactly has this young striker done to warrant a £6m price tag? Tigers fans will be quick to point out the 15 Championship goals he netted for them whilst on loan at the KC stadium in their promotion winning season of 07/08. The key word here is “Championship.”

There’s a world of difference between the top two divisions, and realistically Hull City need a striker who is capable of close to 15 Premier League goals if they are to stand a chance of beating the drop next year.

Phil Brown’s men were brought back down to earth in the second half of last season as their dreamland period of overachieving came abruptly to an end come the turn of the year.

Brown can’t have too much of a transfer budget at his disposal, and using the majority of it to buy a striker who has only ever scored 1 Premier League goal is a risk I’m not sure will come off.





It may seem like buttons compared to the Ronaldo deal, but Ferguson will be laughing all the way to the bank with his £6m on top of the staggering figure Madrid look set to pay for the Portuguese forward.

Some might say that Campbell was not given the opportunity to show what he can do at Tottenham, but ask any Spurs fan and they’ll tell you he wasn’t good enough to merit a run in the side.

I’m fond of Hull so I hope I’m proved wrong, but I can’t see the England U21 international hitting double figures next season and unless they invest in the rest of the team to provide him with service, I feel they’re doomed.

So who else could the Yorkshire club set their sights on instead of Campbell? Well, Kevin Doyle is on the market and would command a similar fee. The Irishman has two full seasons experience in the Premier League with Reading, hitting 19 goals in the process. He surely would have broken the 20-goal barrier had his second season not been marred by injury as the Royals sunk back down to the Championship.

Doyle has proved his ability at the top however, unlike Campbell, and really should seem the more attractive option for Brown. The other aspect is that he is a proven Championship goalscorer with 37 over his two seasons in that division. So, should Hull land Doyle and he is unable to save them from the Premiership’s drop, they’ll know they can rely on him to lead their firing line in a bid to come back up.

Another option for Hull could be…dare I say it…Michael Owen. The former England international has been cruelly written off by many as finished. Am I alone in thinking he still has a lot to offer? With Aston Villa and Everton mulling over a decision whether to take him on or not, the opportunity for Hull, or indeed any other clubs expecting to fight relegation, is there for the taking.

The 29-year-old must be rueing the day he left Liverpool for Real Madrid as his career has spiralled toward the scrapheap and his best days are almost certainly behind him, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do a job.

I don’t blame the bigger clubs for looking twice at him, but it’s the lower clubs who could be missing out on a bargain. He comes on a free and is reportedly already resigned to taking a massive pay cut.

If Hull could persuade him to sign a two year £40k a week deal it would cost the club just over £4m. To me that represents better value than a £6m for someone who has played just 12 Premier League games, despite the age difference.

Other options include Jason Scotland and Ross McCormack who each netted more goals than Campbell did in his sole season in the Championship. However, neither boast Premiership experience and if they command a similar price tag it would represent just as much of a gamble as Campbell seems.

The last time Fergusons offloaded an unwanted striker for £6m was his sale of forgotten man Alan Smith. During Man Utd’s ‘transitional’ phase, which included the flop signings of Eric Djemba-Djemba and Brazilian Kleberson, Ferguson attempted to change Smith’s position from striker to midfielder.

Whilst the former England international always tried his best in a Man Utd shirt, which the fans at least appreciated, it wasn’t good enough. Upon returning to his natural striking role he rather embarrassingly forgot where the net was and his career has plunged into a crisis ever since.

Despite netting just 7 Premier League goals in over 60 games for Man Utd, Smith still managed to conjure up a £6m price tag upon his move to the professional’s graveyard that is Newcastle United.

The now 28-year-old Smith still awaits his first Newcastle league goal after two full seasons at St. James’ Park. Smith must now ply his trade in the Championship with Newcastle as it looks unlikely that any Premier League outfit will give him another chance at the top. To be fair, he hardly warrants one.

How Ferguson managed to scrape £6m out of Newcastle for a player he scuppered so much that no one even knows what position he is anymore is beyond me. But again, you have to credit his shrewd business in selling unwanted players, he has a history of pulling off a deal which favours United rather than the buying club.

Kieran Richardson, who played just 41 games in 5 years at Old Trafford somehow amassed a £5.5m transfer fee. There are too many examples in which to get through, but the point is I fear Campbell is the next in line and cannot live up to his price tag, I fear he could end up playing his best days in the Championship.

The clock on the upper tier reads 2.59pm. Just one minute to kickoff. There’s the usual strong stench of dodgy meat coming from the hot dog stand and the usual alcohol fuelled irritants a tier above. Outside the ground, ticket touts haven’t even bothered showing up for their trade, but then this is no usual 3 o’clock kickoff.

I bring myself to look beyond the food stall and the drunken, tattooed mouthpieces who seem to be unavoidable at professional football matches these days. I scan my eyes across the appropriately named ‘Fantastic Media’ lower tier and the number of young fresh-faced Huddersfield Town fans is, well…fantastic.

This season, Huddersfield Town F.C. broke financial barriers by charging just £2 entrance to the Galpharm Stadium to see their Football League One clash with Carlisle United. Their motivation? To attract the next generation of Terriers’ fans before they become seduced by the glamour of the Premier League.

Of course there’s no guarantee that the legion of youngsters watching this game won’t in time turn out like the yobs sitting above them, but with few companies’ futures secure in the current economic climate, they may well keep their club running.

The Credit Crunch is seemingly taking over the average person’s life. Costs are being cut in every department, especially hobbies, and supporting your football team can often be the most expensive hobby of all.

Financial struggles within the UK are one of the main causes of falling attendance figures in football, and nowhere more so than in the north of England. With the exception of Manchester United and Liverpool, northern clubs at all levels are finding it difficult to fill their stadiums.

But it is the not-so glamorous clubs in the Football League who depend heavily on the people within their working-class local communities to attend their games. This has prompted clubs from the Yorkshire region to act, and it was Bradford City who initiated a growing trend.

The club was the subject of acclaim in 2007 when they announced that season tickets for the following season would be available from as little as £100, working out at less than £4.50 per league game. The offer increased attendances by 57.1% by the end of the 2007/08 season and breathed new life into the club following their slide down the Football League.

With an average figure of 13,659, Bradford had by far the highest attendance in League Two last season. The move was such a success that Bantam fans were awarded a further price cut when it was announced that 2009/10 season tickets were available from £99.

Perhaps even more significant is the breakthrough effect Bradford’s success has had on other Yorkshire clubs. Huddersfield, whose average attendance last season was down by 11.2% on the previous year, has rocketed to an average of almost 13,400 in 08/09 after their copycat impression of Bradford’s pricing strategy.

The club, prior to their equally impressive £2 match-day ticket offer, offered fans season ticket prices as low as £99 last summer in celebration of their centenary year.

“It almost doubled the season ticket sales to 16,200 compared to around 8,500 last season. At that price it made sense for anyone to get a ticket, as they would only have to attend 5 of the 23 games to break even,” said Marcus Middleton, Chairman of the Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Association. “It has definitely reignited the passion in many Town fans,” he added.

Despite their creditable price structure, Huddersfield Town have not reflected the same success on the pitch, with the team finishing League One mid-table at the end of a mediocre season. Marcus was keen to point out that although cheap tickets are welcomed by the fans it casts question marks over the club’s ability to afford investment into the team. “Huddersfield, and all clubs, will have to seriously look at finding a happy medium when considering their pricing structure.

“They need to balance out the fact that season tickets of £100 cannot maintain a successful team, but they need to find a price that the majority of this season’s large crowds will accept paying. I have every faith that they will,” he said.

“Town will aim to maintain this season’s average attendance whilst increasing the ticketing prices to enable the club to spend that little bit extra to buy that extra bit of quality that is needed to see the club maintain a promotion push next season.”

So perhaps cheap season ticket offers every season isn’t an option, but they haven’t done these clubs’ fan bases any harm. Of course, the main concern about non-attendees is the possibility of losing the current generation of fans, and missing out on the next. The general belief is that if parents cannot afford to take their children to games, kids will develop support for the teams they see regularly on television in the glorified Premier League and Champions League.

This ‘armchair following’ is evident in any high street in the UK. Seeing children wearing Chelsea or Manchester United shirts in the centre of Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield is unfortunately commonplace these days. Another Yorkshire club who deserve recognition for trying to prevent the ‘armchair following’ is Barnsley. After a glorious run to the FA Cup semi-finals last year, fans have been brought back down to earth with a relegation battle in this season’s Championship table.

Poor form has inevitably led to disappointing attendances. But, galvanized by the success of the other clubs, Barnsley offered match day tickets to their vital relegation clash with Nottingham Forest for just £5 during the past season. Paul Waddington of the Barnsley Supporters Trust, was able to give more insight into the offer. “The game wasn’t originally due to be one with reduced ticket pricing,” he said. “But the Forest Chairman made a promise to their supporters who had attended a recent away fixture at Burnley where they were duly thrashed, that he would subsidise the tickets to Barnsley, effectively reducing them to £10.

“Both clubs clearly wanted to swell their support due to the importance of the fixture. Barnsley therefore reduced the prices to £5 for all home fans and this saw practically a full house. “I don’t think we could sustain a club pricing all fixtures at £5 though, but it certainly brought the floating fan back to the club and, more importantly, brought the game within the affordability bracket for people out of work, et cetera,” he added. Bringing ‘the floating fan’ back seems to be a priority amongst Yorkshire clubs at present but while it appears unfeasible to run a football club with budget season ticket prices year upon year, it does appear that these clubs are onto a winner with casual match day offers. If more clubs in other regions of the nation were willing to echo such promotional offers, perhaps the influx of ‘armchair’ fans in the English game would not be so much of an issue.

Upon leaving the Galpharm stadium, where veteran Andy Booth’s late header sealed a home win, I’m intrigued by the lure of that dodgy hot-dog stand. The traditional pie at football matches has long since been replaced with the imitation frankfurter between two stale buns, but for £3…it hardly represents value for money. For just £2, this will surely be the least expensive game of professional football I will ever witness. Here’s hoping for more match days when entrance is cheaper than the hotdogs, because for football clubs, capturing the next generation of football fans is priceless.

The word fan is basically the short form of fanatic, and while it may not apply to the majority of sports fans, fanatic is definitely an appropriate way to describe many football supporters. In what other sport do you see as much passion off of the field as you do on it? But, while playing pro football used to be the dream of many youngsters throughout the world, it’s sometimes becoming a nightmare as it seems many players and fans are doing their best to shame the game with unsportsmanlike antics.

The Good

People have been getting paid for playing football for decades now, and like many other jobs, the players have formed unions in most countries. The Professional Footballer’s Association (PFA) of England was formed in 1907, and is the world’s oldest, established sports union. These unions are designed to help pro players out with things such as contracts, management, education, and financial planning from the time they’re raw rookies until they’re old age pensioners.

However, while many of today’s stars are multimillionaires, no matter what currency they’re being paid in, things weren’t always quite so rosy for them, especially in Great Britain. It may be hard to believe, but up until 1961, when British players took the Football League to court, there was a maximum wage system in place where no player could earn more than £20 a week.

After winning the court case, British players were finally able to negotiate their own contracts. The nation looked on in disbelief as some players were then earning £100 a week. These days, some players are making up to about £125,000 weekly. While most countries have at least one professional league in place, some players, even in North America, still struggle to earn a decent living though. This is often the case with those in some of the world’s lower divisions.

Another good aspect of the pro game is that many teams support their communities and various charities financially. Most teams also promote education and player development by operating soccer academies for youngsters.

The Bad

Is money really the root of all evil? Some teams have more cash than they know what to do with. Most pro leagues don’t work on a salary cap system and this is why you’ll often see some teams buying players instead of developing them. Some teams even buy certain players just so their opponents can’t have them and these guys often end up sitting on the bench.

Another bad aspect that’s become all too common in recent years is the cheating of players, team officials, and even referees, both on and off the field. Football scandals are all over the place and some accusations of match-fixing and illegal payments have proven to be true.

It’s bad enough that cheating takes place off the pitch, but if you watch a pro game these days you’d swear the players were trying out for the Olympic diving team by simulating fouls every time a player goes near them. Time wasting and the grabbing of players shirts are also far too common. It’s getting to a ridiculous point and if professional soccer doesn’t clean up its act very quickly it’s going to be hard to draw new fans to the sport, especially in America.

The Ugly

Football can often be beautiful, graceful and majestic, but it also has an ugly side to it. Players sometimes get carried away on the pitch and fights break out, even between teammates. Unfortunately, it usually rears its ugly head in the form of hooliganism by so-called fans. While most supporters are upstanding citizens, there is a minority whose main aim is to cause nothing but trouble.

Football hooligans are still too common in some European and South American countries and the carnage they cause includes racism, fighting, stabbings, destruction of property, rioting, death, and even murder. While pro football is now generally considered to be a safe sport for the family to attend in some nations there are still pockets of troublemakers spread throughout most countries. Over the years, this has tarnished the image of the sport and has hurt attendance figures in many nations.

There have also been too many stadium disasters over the years that probably could have been prevented. It’s about time some of these clubs spend their barrels of cash on better security systems for the fans, who are the club’s bread and butter.