Compare And Contrast Analysis Of Football In Britain And Spain
Have you ever heard the saying, “have you ever wanted something so much it hurt”? Well, for a professional footballer, it’s literal. Week in and week out, players all around the world battle physically for the ultimate prize, to be the best. Football is the most played sport in the world today.
The birthplace of modern football is Britain. The first game took place in the east of England - where the locals played 'football' with the severed head of a Danish Prince they had defeated in a battle. Moving on to 1863, The Football Association was formed, upon which the handling of the ball was forbidden and proper rules were put into place, thus paving the way for the inception of The English Football League in 1888, revolutionizing the sport in the process. In Spain however, Football came only in the late 1900s as an import from the British Isles. Spanish students and British immigrants brought football culture to the country from those lands. In 1890, Spain's first official football game was organized in Seville where most of the players on both teams were British. These days, football in both countries has flourished, both countries having won world cups and built their own league tiers. Being two of the best and most widely followed leagues in the world it would be interesting to analyze, compare and contrast what makes them so lovable and successful, in terms of the Competition within the league, their fans, as well as the money and finances that goes into the making of such a high profile sport.
In any league, the most important factor of comparison is the competition. La Liga arguably has a higher level, greater quality and the top mega superstars that English football has been lacking in the past few seasons. But the Premier League is more exciting, more competitive, more dramatic. According to popular opinion, it's the best league in the world because it's the most entertaining. From a different point of view however, The Premier League has more flawed teams, leading to football that is arguably more entertaining, and more money, leading to it becoming a monument to excess and greed. It's probably a better business but not a better football league. Not even close. When it is looked at through results, we can see that in the last 19 European ties between English and Spanish clubs, it's 17-2 to Spain. Since 2000, Spanish clubs have won 26 European trophies, English clubs have won 7.
Another massive difference is, the festive schedule of the Premier League which is subject to a lot of criticism from the players and managers. Almost every league in Europe has some sort of winter break. However, contrary to this concept, the Premier League even increases the number of games in December. Barcelona played five matches in December 2017, before having a 12-day break before the Spanish schedule picked up its intensity in January. Manchester City, on the other hand, played nine games that December, a circumstance that made managers severely criticize the congested schedule. "We're going to kill the players!" said Guardiola. The criticism is reasonable, two games in less than 48 hours is certainly a tall task for the players. On the flipside, the fans get to see competitive matches almost every day in December and it is simply heavenly. There's just nothing quite like the December madness of the Premier League. The love and support of the fans is what motivates the players to succeed every match. They create an atmosphere that is so electric, it forces the players to give their all and push for the result their fans so intensely desire. Sometimes fans are so passionate, they even commit suicide if their team has suffered a humiliating loss. According to the book “Soccernomics” by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, In June 1969, an El-Salvadorean girl was watching the Honduras Vs. El Salvador match, and when Honduras scored a 90th minute winner she apparently walked to her fathers study, got his pistol and shot herself in the heart. While the atmosphere during top matches at historical venues like Anfield and Old Trafford are comparable to the Nou Camp and the Bernabeu, it's the smaller grounds that elevate the Premier League above its Spanish counter-part. Teams like Burnley and Stoke are dependent on their home crowds in their constant battle against relegation and there is a reason why the question "but can they do it on a cold and rainy night in Stoke?" has become a cult phrase. The atmosphere in the stadiums doesn't only make the game more lively for neutral viewers, but it also contributes to a lot of upsets by lower-placed sides against the top teams. The average attendance of a Premier League match last season was about 36, 000, whereas the average in La Liga was at around 28, 000. Of course, this is partially due to the capacities of the venues, but on the other hand, the Premier League grounds are simply better visited than those of La Liga. For instance, the average attendance of Espanyol's home matches last season was half of their maximum capacity - something that would be unimaginable in the Premier League.
These days, the love of football and the fans’ love and support isn’t the only thing people play for, money is one of the biggest motivators when it comes to which teams players choose and so on. The revenue from the sale of broadcasting rights by the leagues has also helped to transform European football, thus making Spanish and English football gilded competitions. In recent times, the prize money for the Premier League has risen considerably due to the deluge of television finance that has flooded into the game in England. The bulk of that money, which comes from commercial deals and broadcast income, is shared equally, but there are different levels of payment for facility fees and a team's final finish. The players wages’ and transfer fees have skyrocketed to new levels in the recent past. Take Maradona's transfer from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984. The Italian club paid 1. 3 billion pesetas (£6m) for the Argentine, who at the time was the world's best player. In today's prices Maradona would be worth £18m, if you consider inflation has tripled prices in the UK since 1984. That's the same price Watford paid Burnley for Andre Gray. The mind boggles. Three of the most income-generating sources for these leagues are, TV rights, merchandise and matchday revenue. Internationally the Premier League TV rights are sold for billions while the rights for La Liga might be high, but are still not as much.
In conclusion, when comparing these leagues, it is important that we compare them on the basis of their competition within the league, their fans, as well as the wages and finances that go into them. It can be agreed upon that in terms of competition the Premier League is much more superior because of its entertaining nature, and its supporters are also much more passionate than their Spanish counterparts. Even in money, the Premier League earns and pays a lot more than La Liga. At the end of the day, whether they’re in Spain or England, the manager still asks the players “Did you leave everything on the pitch today?”.
