At times during my career I was a definite begrudger. However, professional footballers are not necessarily nefarious in their begrudgery simply because wanting what the other fella has is one of the essential factors of motivation in any professional sport.
So I was consoled in my era of envy by the absolute plethora of like-minded individuals that populated every dressing room I was ever in. It was simply the way our world was.
However, invariably there was, well, a sort of acknowledgement, an acceptance even, of the fact that any individual or individuals, that possessed the talent to make the team more efficient, and who then proceeded to fashion that greater efficiency, was, or were, entitled to have that bit more than the rest.
Although I have to state that not everyone to a man subscribed to this principle of free enterprise. There were begrudgers, and then there were some serious begrudgers. That also, was the way our world was.
I am moved to activate this week’s contribution for the not inconsiderable reason that I am becoming increasingly irritated by the rather crass manner in which many members of the media make reference to the salaries of professional footballers.
'Obscene' is the fashionable word used by these people in an attempt to denigrate the superior salaries paid to modern footballers. This type of behaviour perhaps merely reflects an inherent jealousy or at the very least, a small mindedness that is further reflective of a lack of appreciation of the life of a professional athlete.
When I played professional football some of my biggest challenges occurred away from the pitch. God knows it was hard enough to gain recognition and credit on the field of play but in many ways the more important encounters, and ironically at times the most bitter, occurred at seasons end when my contract was due to expire. In those days a player’s career was literally controlled by the football club he played for.
If contractual discussions broke down and stalemate reigned, the club could simply retain the rights to an individual’s contract and it was not even compulsory for it to pay him any money whatsoever. Hence, a footballer, often with a family to provide for, at times found himself snookered to such an extent that he simply had no option but to sign a new contract on the terms dictated by the club.
I personally became very accomplished in the art of contractual discussion. I had to. It was as much a necessity in my eyes to be as wily and nimble in the manager’s office as it was in the penalty area. And when we failed to realise an agreement in the manager’s office, the discussions usually moved on to the chairman’s office.
Now, in a way, this was quite daunting because chairmen tend to take themselves very serious and it was a bit like going to the headmaster’s office when attending school, but at the same time, it was also encouraging, as it signified that your services were valued.
It is still my belief that professional footballers were not treated with enough respect and consideration in those days and yet I accept that the power in today’s game has moved from clubs to players, which is simply a reversal of the imbalance in many ways. In saying that, I do not accept in any way whatsoever the right of any journalist to deprecate the salary of a highly trained and successful professional footballer.
They do not for example, display the same antipathy towards the salaries of professional sportsmen in other fields. Golfers make millions, with more than a few never even winning a tournament and many fly their own planes.
Baseball, basketball and American footballers all receive multi million dollar contracts and even outside of sport there are actors and actresses receiving enormous amounts of money who are no more famous around the world than Christiano Ronaldo or David Beckham would be.
But professional football is the game of the streets. It is the game where individuals can raise themselves from the most humble of backgrounds and attain great fame and fortune. In my opinion this is admirable and commendable but unfortunately there are many in England, and unfortunately now more than a few in Ireland, who would prefer to begrudge, and in the worst possible sense of the word, these players their entitlement to maximise their standard of living,
And, in a manner reminiscent of the old English aristocracy attitude of gratuitous superiority, suggest through their begrudgery that working class people should know their place in society and the salaries they receive should mirror their humble origins.
This is further underlined by the way the salaries of golfers and other sportsmen are quoted in annual figures whereas footballers wages are always given in weekly sums. Nobody knows the salary of any professional footballer. Such matters are private and confidential and whatever figures you hear or read are almost certainly pure conjecture.
One national newspaper this week derided the career of Republic of Ireland star, Damien Duff; quoting the money he receives as 'obscene' and casting aspersions on his reasons for joining Newcastle United.
To Alan Shearer, Newcastle United was, and still is for that matter, a huge challenge, but to Duff, the inference is, it was merely a question of money.
In truth, Newcastle should have offered a wonderful challenge to Damien Duff and had it not been for serious mismanagement right from the very top, that challenge would have presented a golden opportunity for Duff to partake of something special. As we have witnessed recently in the world of business, the damage inflicted by bad management can grotesquely dilute the talents of many further down the chain of command.
Most of the top professional footballers perform live in front of more than two million people every year and countless millions also watch through the medium of television. Compare this to the top musicians like U2, Madonna and Bruce Springsteen who would love to have such huge and regular yearly audience figures.
It is my proposal to you that this style of journalism is not just spiteful and small minded it is also lazy. It panders more to the mentality of reality television than it does to the serious business of professional sport.
I am delighted to see that Real Madrid, and their millionaire football players, will be in Ireland this summer. I was down to Carton House as a guest some months ago and I have to say I was hugely impressed with the facilities and the forward thinking of all those concerned with this imaginative amenity. The training area is absolutely superb and of course the accommodation is first class.
