The Political Economy of Football V2

I am old enough to remember when floodlights were an innovative novelty and games in midwinter finished in near darkness.   These days we take them for granted, but energy price rises have focused attention on their cost. Exeter City chairman Julian Tagg, like many executives in football, knows that hard times could be on the horizon amid the cost of living crisis this winter. As energy bills soar for clubs and fans, the margins will get even tighter for EFL and non-League clubs. “Every club has a huge dependence on bums on seats,” Tagg says, with Exeter having made an impressive start to life in League One after promotion last season. “Lots do great work but you’re only as good as the number of bums on seats at our level. Everyone is going to feel that. Cashflow is king and many football clubs have to walk a tightrope on that front.” League Two Mansfield Town have announced that their upcoming home match against Walsall on October 15 will be moved to an earlie...

Football's relationship with new technology has always been an uneasy one. There has always been a fear that embracing new technology will change the character of the game. But the conservative resistance of the game's authorities (reflecting that of the wider football community) is starting to break down. In the past one of the most transformative technologies has been floodlighting. Experiments were carried out in the 19th century before the arrival of electricity, but not surprisingly what amounted to giant flares or using batteries and dynamos were not very successful. When floodlighting eventually arrived, it was treated as something of a novelty with special 'floodlight' competitions. During the 1930s Herbert Chapman at Arsenal decided to install permanent lights at Highbury. The Football League, in its infinite wisdom, refused to sanction their use, though, so only friendly and unofficial games were played using the newly installed lights. It took until the...