How ignoring the law can work out for the best.
This week saw Villa publishing the annual accounts. These used to be worth looking at to see how much we’d lost (Lerner) or before that how much the chairman had paid himself (guess who). Now it’s a case of how the turnover and losses square with whichever set of letters we’re having to conform with this year.
FFP, PSR or SCR, they all seem to be designed specifically to inconvenience the Villa. Other clubs might complain as well, but we’re the ones who suffer most. We have a record turnover and make a profit – we’ll still struggle to improve the team and keep hold of our most saleable assets. Manchester United lose another £200 million, Chelsea get fined – who do you want to buy?
The original reasons why the rules were brought in are inappropriate now. Clubs aren’t spending money they haven’t got in order to stay in the Premier League and even if they are, these rules aren’t making as much difference in preventing administration as they are in destroying competition.
When I was looking at the current situation I thought back to the early nineties and a similar situation. The Sunday trading laws were equally archaic – big stores couldn’t open, you could buy porn but not a Bible. The situation was ridiculous but nobody seemed able to do anything about it. Then fate took a hand.
8th December 1990. Villa were due to be playing Manchester City at home; Jo Venglos was manager and he was finding life in England difficult but City were the world’s most unpredictable team so we should be getting a win. Elsewhere, with three Saturdays until Christmas the retail industry was gearing up for one of their big days of the year. Everyone was anxious but the morning began with six inches of snow covering most of the country. The match was off, shops were closed.
Our match would be rescheduled eventually but Christmas couldn’t be put back a week to make up for the lost weekend. So the retailers did what they do best – they worked out what would best maximise their profits. It didn’t take them long to realise that any fines they might incur by opening the following Sunday would be made up by their increased takings.
And so they opened, did well and opened again the next Sunday, and for a lot of Sundays after that. So many of them started opening that local councils couldn’t do much and therefore the laws were even more farcical. Eventually they were relaxed and we got the situation we have now. It didn’t happen because of a sudden outbreak of sense, it happened because so many businesses ignored a restrictive and outdated law that it couldn’t be upheld. Does that remind you of anything?
Villa eventually played Manchester City on 23rd April 1991. We lost 5-1 and next day the Mail ran their “IN THE NAME OF GOD GO!” headline. Sainsbury’s, Rackhams and Toys’R’Us did a bit better that week.
