Agenda 2019

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/04/muhammad-ali-obituary One of the greatest heavyweight boxing champions the world has seen, with courage, conviction and wit that made him an inspirational figure Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.,  January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016 One of the truly great sporting legends. A great talent which the American government treated very badly. Ali was a man of dignity and principle, which he maintained throughout his life.  His stance in opposition to the Viet Nam war, is well known and well documented.  Watching one of the numerous video clips available of his comments at that time, I recalled an event from the past. I was at a party in a friends house some years ago and a few of the guests were service personnel from the Greenham Common USAF base. During the course of a conversation with one of these guests, it emerged that he had been in Viet Nam during the conflict. At one point I stated th...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/simon-english-if-man-united-shares-get-any-lower-expect-glazers-to-grab-first-chance-of-an-exit-8038685.html  No one thinks the Glazers have any interest in football or the desires of the fans. They want to make cash, and have done so. Football in this country died when money became more important than talent. At one time, players would have pulled on a club, or country shirt and played for £20.00 per week, or in the case of country shirt probably for the price of getting to the stadium, but Jimmy Hill changed all that in 1961. The first question that a player asks today seems to be "Will my match fee cover a new Ferrari and I also need a new WAG?". However, I think that even Jimmy Hill would be appalled at the obscene amount of money sloshing around in the game today. Television rights running into £ billions, franchises in the same amounts, transfer fees,"floating clubs on the stock exchanges of the worl...

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-   The £3BILLION bonanza: Premier League footballers set to get even richer as broadcast rights are sold for record sum to Sky and BT Obscene. When money becomes more important than the game, in the long run, its the game that suffers. Is there any connection between falling numbers going through the turnstiles, the decline in performance and ability of players, and the increasing sums of money paid by the media for the "packages" of games?