This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2010 issue of World Gaming magazine.
The English Premier League has become the football world’s global brand. Money flowed into the game like a river of gold as transfers and wages sky-rocketed. Big names have come and gone, there has been tragedy, triumph and a few moments of brilliance which will decorate the memory forever. Here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of an English football decade.
Roman Abromovich
The man to have the biggest individual influence on the game was not a footballer at all but a Russian businessman named Roman Abromovich. His arrival at Chelsea with seemingly endless amounts of money gave birth to the ‘big four’ and allowed four clubs to dominate the entire decade as the others scrambled for investment. Until now only Everton has broken the stranglehold when they pipped cross-town rivals Liverpool to fourth place in 2004. It is hard to see how this can be a good long term thing for the competition which needs more than four competitive teams.
Leeds United underpinned what could happen to a club in this modern environment. Having lived the dream in the late 1990s and early 2000s, even reaching a champions league semi-final in 2004, Leeds financially imploded. They were forced to sell all their players, their stadium and even their training ground to pay back huge loans. The team which began the decade in third place in the premiership is now a distant memory, relegated out of the minds of the football world.
With the game changing, the humble manager suddenly became ‘dream maker’ or ‘soul taker’ depending of the fortunes of their team. In a very short period of time the men pulling the strings became more important than the players on the ground. Sir Alex Ferguson threatened retirement from the game in 2002 before reconsidering and even to this day remains the most powerful man at United and one of the biggest names in the game.
Jose Mourinho announced to the press in his first interview that though he was not arrogant, he was a ‘Special One.’ The Press were instantly enamoured, the public divided, but two Premiership titles in his three year tenure made Chelsea the club they always threatened to be. The ranks of the managers shrank by one as the death of Mourinho’s teacher and mentor, Sir Bobby Robson, was felt around the football community. Sir Bobby was one of the great gentlemen of football, he played for England in his youth but he excelled in management, first with Ipswich, then England and afterwards for some of Europe’s biggest clubs.
Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ were the finest team of the decade. Rock solid defence saw the team go 49 games without being beaten. Their attack was simply breathtaking as Viera was unstoppable, Bergkamp and Pires irresistible and Thierry Henry simply awesome. Arsène Wenger seemed, for a time, to have found the perfect blend. Fittingly the Football Association commissioned a special gold trophy to commemorate their unbeaten season. The only thing the ‘Gunners’ didn’t achieve was the long term dominance their fans were thirsting for.
On the field the champions continue to come and go and thrill us along the way. Ronaldo left England to pursue his childhood dream of playing for Real Madrid with the grudging respect and admiration of every fan in the country. His ‘immaculate’ season when he scored 42 goals from midfield was sublime and may never be surpassed. Beckham would go and others would retire but for the most part outside of a couple of Spanish and Italian powerhouse clubs, the game’s spiritual centre would remain firmly in England’s grasp.
Steven Gerrard won the FA cup against West Ham almost single-handedly in 2006 but it was a year earlier that might be the moment of the decade when he masterminded the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’. 3-0 down at half-time Liverpool’s dream had all but died. Gerrard, however, seemed to explode out of the tunnel and in seven minutes the score board was level. Extra time would see Liverpool complete the fairytale and AC Milan fans were wondering what had all gone wrong.
So what lies ahead in the next decade? More money and more great football is probably the simplest answer. If there is one man that might prove to be the player of the decade then I am reminded by a small piece of commentary when a much heralded 16 year old came on as an Everton substitute against Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’. He flicked the ball up with his left foot, spun round and effortlessly volleyed it into the top corner of the goal from thirty yards out. ‘Remember the name…Wayne Rooney.’
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