Skip to main content

The world of the under 23s

Newcastle fans at a reserve game at Sunderland

It's unusual to see such a big turnout at a reserve fixture, but it reflects the rivalry between these two clubs. The traditional reserves have been replaced in large part by the under 23s and they were the subject of a feature article in The Times last Saturday. The insertion of under 23s into the Carabao Cup has not gone down well with fans and it is a relief that the final will be played between two first teams.

Let's start with the traditional reserves. They were a mixture of players returning from injury, fringe players and young hopefuls. Crowds were sparse, particularly as it was often difficult to find out where they were being played. I was sent by Charlton to cover an Oxford United v. Charlton reserve game, turned up at their old ground at Headington, only to find it was being played at Witney (Wendy Toms was the referee).

Four Four Two magazine had a nice feature on the reserves in February 2007 entitled: 'The Lights Are On ... But No One's Home.' The lead line was, 'Welcome to a parallel universe where admission costs little or nothing and a bad result doesn't ruin your entire week.'

The Times article focused on the fact that Manchester United under 23s are bottom of Premier League Group 2 with just twelve points, behind Sunderland. Most games are played at Leigh Sports Stadium which has a 12,000 capacity. Even though admission is free, not more than 500 turn up. Three games are played each year at Old Trafford, attendances reach only about 4,000 in games against Liverpool or Manchester City. Of course, a lot of United supporters live some distance from Manchester.

Some of the under 23 players are just seeing out contracts worth between £5k and £10k a week, because they know they will not get a better off elsewhere. Top clubs are overloaded with players who they want to stop other top clubs getting their hands on, but to whom they can offer nothing when their contracts expire.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wolves get raw deal from FFP

  I used to see a lifelong Wolves fan for lunch once a month.   He was approaching ninety, but still went to games.   Sadly he passed away the other week. As football finance guru Kieran Maguire has noted, Wolves continue to be constrained by financial fair play rules.  Radio 4 this morning described them as this year's 'crisis club' and the pessimists have certainly been piling in. Martin Samuel wrote sympathetically in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying that the Premier League drives talent away with regulatory red tape: 'Why could Al-Hilal sign Neves? Because Wolves needed the money. And why did Wolves need the money? Because the club had to comply with an artificial construct known as financial fair play. So Wolves are going skint, yes? No. There is no suggestion that Wolves are in financial trouble, only that they are failing to meet the rigours of FFP. Wolves’ owners appear to have the money to run the club, and invest in the club, and in fact came up with a pow

Charlton takeover approved

The long awaited takeover of Charlton Athletic by SE7 Partners from Thomas Sandgaard has been approved:  https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/se7-partners-obtain-efl-approval-for-charlton-athletic-takeover/ Charlton have had unhappy experiences with owners for over a decade, so how this works out will remain to be seen.  There is certainly potential there, but will it be realised? This interview with Charlie Methven gives detail not available elsewhere:  https://thecharltondossier.com/charlie-methven-on-the-record/

Lau on the ropes

Financial challenges are building up for Guichan Lau whose company WBA Holdings owns 66 per cent of West Bromwich Albion.   His company's accounts show that it is in default on a £2 million from a West Midlands heating company called Warmfront Holdings. Warmfront has agreed to take no action to reclaim the loan and interest until February next year.  Given a punitive rate of interest of 5 per cent a month, the amount outstanding will then be around £4 million. Lai has missed three deadlines to repay a loan from the Baggies to his Hong Kong company Wisdom Smart Corporation.  [sic]  Meanwhile the club have a £20m loan from MSD UK holdings at an annual interest rate of 13.8 per cent.