Football crazy

The economics are obscene, but football is part of my life that will not go away and I will be obsessing about results and making big speeches as usual to the despair of my friends. But let's just dwell on that obscenity for a bit with Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace Supporter Trusts. They ask a simple question, "how can a game, rich with so much money, still be so greedy?" Ticket prices are exorbitant.

But the facts are clear. More money than ever before is in football yet it still goes in through one bank account and out to top up others people's already bulging bank balances. Supporters’ wallets remain empty. Supporters still find themselves getting nothing back.

Loyalty creates inelastic demand, but so does fashion. And fashions change. Will the football bubble burst and does that mean that the people who really love the game will begin to reap some of the rewards out of necessity? The German model of majority fan ownership, safe standing and cheap entry prices hasn't done too badly has it?

The full statement is here and will no doubt appear on the other trusts' web sites in due course.