19.02.1998

All about money

Katrina Haynes reports on the Weekly Worker fighting fund

Football is all about money. Just two days ago the sacking of Chel­sea prima donna Ruud Gullit re­vealed again the huge amounts made by those at the top of the modern game. A few days later, or­dinary fans were informed of sea­son ticket price hikes of up to 47%.

Of course, somebody has to pick up the tab for the likes of the £2 million a year Gullit used to get (af­ter taxes) - not to mention all the other superstars in the Chelsea club, many of them paid more than £1 million a year. Being a fan of the “most glamorous British football team” carries a price - £50 for a regu­lar seat, to be exact. Admission to Stamford Bridge has risen more than 220% in the past decade. Seats in the Matthew Harding Stand, for example, will now cost £525, an increase of £170. Loyal fans, of course, will pay.

In its ‘primeval’, rough-house form, football originated as a game of the masses. Then in the Victo­rian epoch of high imperialism it was ‘domesticated’, its rules codified and utilised as a form of social con­trol. By inculcating false loyalties, sometimes utilising sectarian reli­gious divides, but often based on nothing more than the colour of the players’ shirts, the bourgeoisie has evolved another method to effec­tively divide the working class. The spectacle of fans chanting hate anthems back and forth in support of what are - in effect - transnational capitalist businesses should nau­seate any socialist.

The fact that much of the left re­gards ‘footie’ as just a bit of harm­less fun and even apes backward attitudes says much about the pov­erty of their vision. These comrades are the types who tell us that our regular financial demands on mem­bers and the strain of the annual Summer Offensive will frighten away ‘ordinary workers’.

In fact, when our class feels com­mitment to a struggle, it puts its money - and plenty of it - where its mouth is. The Liverpool dockers and Hillingdon strikers being out­standing recent examples.

We had a bit of a lean week as far as donations are concerned - many thanks to DK from Zimbabwe for £20 and ND (Glasgow) who sent us £30. Thanks also to comrade PL (London) who guaranteed a regu­lar monthly donation of £10. These are particularly important for us as they allow us to plan our finances more precisely. Contact Party cen­tre for standing order forms. With £295 donated in February up to now we are £205 short of our target. Help us reaching the £500 - rush us your money now!

Katrina Haynes