Premier bosses look to tackle poor gates
The league’s attendance working group, headed by chief executive Richard Scudamore, will deal with the concerns of several club chairmen who are seeing a dwindling number of fans coming through the turnstiles.
Blackburn chairman John Williams, a member of the working group, saw just 20,725 fans turn up for Sunday’s home match with Newcastle, 9,000 fewer than last season.
Williams said: “We in the Premier League have had 10 great years, a fantastic success story, but we are going through the doldrums now.
“We have to do something now because by the time you see the bandwagon it’s too late.
“Richard Scudamore is going to reconstitute the working group and it’s time to sit down and go through a whole plethora of things that might be done.
“The wheels have not come off but the product does need a good service - it needs tweaking rather than major surgery.”
Williams believes a combination of factors including saturation television coverage, ticket prices, negative tactics and predictable results are behind the fall in attendances.
The working party will report any proposals to the November meeting of Premier League chairmen.
The Premier League remain bullish about their product however and point out that there were worries about attendances at this point last season but that overall the clubs operated at a 94.2% occupancy rate compared to 93.7% in the 2002-03 season, considerably higher than Spain and Germany despite significantly lower prices in those countries.
Meanwhile Wayne Rooney has rejected claims the Premiership is becoming boring.
While Rooney’s ability to entertain is unquestioned, there are some who fear his skills are being restricted as both England and Manchester United adopt a more conservative approach.
The widespread use of the 4-5-1 formation pioneered with so much success by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea is being blamed for a distinct lack of excitement in the Barclays Premiership this season.
United’s drab goalless stalemate with Liverpool on Sunday was a prime example and with the goals per game average dropping, attendances falling alarmingly at some clubs and Chelsea not conceding a goal, let alone a point in their early surge clear at the top of the table, the English top flight is facing its biggest challenge since the competition was launched in 1992.
However, like his England team-mate Frank Lampard, Rooney rejects the theory of a boring league and just believes teams have become far more organised defensively.
“I do not think the league is getting boring,” Rooney said.
“A lot of teams have got a lot better now. They are going to places like Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford and Anfield and setting their stall out to get something out of the game.
“If that means 4-5-1 and getting everyone behind the ball, providing they get the result, it is good for that team.”
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