A game of two halves: who is football really for?

by Ryan Deluchi

Photo by Jaleel Akbash on Unsplash

The return to English football of the most followed person on Instagram (who also happens to be a pretty good footballer) unsurprisingly caused a huge stir last weekend, and in doing so drew even more focus on the divide between legacy and Next Gen fans.

At 3pm last Saturday, online debate centred around why only 76,000 fans – i.e. those who had tickets to the game - had been able to witness Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to the hallowed turf of Old Trafford after twelve years away from the club. In this era of 24/7 football content and multiple platform subscriptions, it was unfathomable to most how this momentous occasion could not be watched on TV (in the UK at least).  

The reason lies in a UK-specific law dating back to the 1960’s designed to protect attendances at football matches by preventing the broadcast of games at 3pm (the time when most games in England are played) – also known as ‘the 3pm black out’.

To any fan tuning in from abroad (of which there were many) it might seem that this law was a simple oversight; a quirky example of archaic English law-making, like being allowed to shoot a Welshman with a bow and arrow after midnight. Is there even a debate to be had?

The reality is that this law is just the latest point of contention between an increasingly divided football fan base.

Rightly or wrongly and probably unknowingly, battle lines have been drawn.

On one side there are the ‘legacy fans’ (synonyms of which may include ‘old fans’, ‘original fans’ and – depending on if you are one or not – ‘true fans’). In this binary equation, the fans thrown into this group are usually assumed to be match-going, local fans; fond of tradition and fiercely tribal. Yet despite this loyalty, there’s a sense that this group is becoming increasingly irrelevant in football’s commercial model as gate receipts continue to account for proportionately less revenue for the top clubs. Those that begged for, stole or borrowed a ticket to Old Trafford last weekend may see themselves on this side.

On the flip side there are the Next Gen fans – the mostly Gen Z fans that almost every highly paid exec in football is hell bent on cracking / targeting / engaging (pick your cold, corporate metaphor). Common traits attributed to this group often include promiscuity when it comes to teams (it’s assumed that these fans care less about the badge and more about the person wearing it) and an insatiable appetite for short-form consumption of the beautiful game, largely due to an inability to remove themselves from Fortnite for ninety minutes.

Stereotypes aside, many of these fans were left feeling perplexed when they were unable to witness arguably the world’s most famous footballer in action last Saturday.  

In recent years the debate between these two fan factions has become philosophical in nature - who is football for?  - with both sides able to make valid claims that it’s for them.

After all, what is football without legacy fans? The brands and narratives that make football the world’s most popular sport didn’t appear overnight – they’re the culmination of over a century’s worth of support, sprouting from working class communities across the world and giving people purpose and belonging. We only have to go back to the empty stadiums of twelve months ago to see the impact that the absence of match-going fans has on the quality of the broadcast product. Without these fans, everybody loses.

And yet, the same could also be argued for Next Gen fans. It’s certain that Cristiano Ronaldo’s romantic return – a player earning the best part of £400k per week despite taking a £6m annual pay cut – would not have happened had it not been for years of global commercial expansion at both Manchester United and the English Premier League. If the legacy fans are the life and soul of football, then it’s clear that Next Gen fans are the ones bank rolling it.

So who is football for?

As with most things, the reality is rarely as binary as it seems. There are plenty of young fans both in the UK and abroad that would trade in their FIFA FUT teams in a heartbeat for a chance to watch their team in the flesh. Likewise, there are likely plenty in the older generation who would happily settle for a highlights package viewed from the sofa.

Football wouldn’t be here now without legacy fans, and it won’t be here much longer without the Next Gen. Both are crucial.

The hope is that the teams, broadcasters and brands realise this too. Because as soon as they pick sides, it’s clear that a huge portion of fans will end up as collateral damage. However and wherever you consume your football, that can never be a good thing.