FOOTBALL: Too much on TV? By Philip Hennessey (From Warrington Guardian)

FOOTBALL: Too much on TV? By Philip Hennessey

COMMENTS made by the Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein concerning the gross amount of low quality football on television is, in my opinion, refreshing and accurate.

The media is reaching saturation point with the endless number of quite frankly mindblowingly dull clashes between teams you wouldn't cross over the road to watch.

You can now see almost every Premiership match live on television and it can only be damaging for the game in the long term.

Dein said that we are now getting to the stage where 'less is more'.

He said: "We must monitor the quality of the product and ensure attendances do not decline and we must balance that with the quality of exposure on television too."

Although it must be unlikely that any of the media moguls responsible for controlling the amount of football on our screens will listen to his advice it does serve as a timely warning.

Before the television revolution ripped the heart out of football it was a novelty to see a game on the television and was something people looked forward to.

But now when you can watch games like Norwich against Crystal Palace on a Monday evening it takes the excitement away.

But maybe that is part of the problem.

Without disrespecting Norwich or Crystal Palace do we really want clubs like that in the Premiership?

Of course they have every right to be there and good luck to them but if I'm being honest, as much as I dislike them, I would prefer to watch my team playing against Leeds, West Ham, Sunderland and Wolves.

This season there has been more coverage of the Premiership than ever before but ironically it is a season in which our top division is full of small clubs who have very little support and next to no tradition.

But at the end of the day the good of the game is the least of the money makers' concerns and the more games that are shown the more the profits will increase.

But be warned - this bubble will eventually burst and when it does the fallout from it will be tremendous.

So on behalf of football fans I would ask television chiefs not to show matches for the sake of it and protect the future of our game.