ENGLAND dominates the list of the top 10 clubs in Europe 60%, in numbers, and still pulls in a lot of money, by running the most professional and valued times.
Until the figures are up, it is not usually obvious that poor as the football some play is, they are richer than their mates.
More paradoxes pop up when the credentials of the national teams of the countries where these clubs are based are interrogated. They expose the irony of the successes of professional football, soccer, for the benefit of those who may stretch this to include American football.
The English Premiership is the most profitable football league in the world, with broadcast rights in 2024 worth nearly $13 billion, according to Statista. The clubs get a share of the broadcast rights and make more money from ticket sales, where other excitements exist.
Fulham has its season’s ticket at $3,924.36, three times costlier than Manchester City’s $1,308 per season. City has created some spectacular records in the Premiership including four straight titles, and six titles in seven seasons. The performance tends to eclipse the dominance of Manchester United that is now in devastating decline. United won six of its 13 Premiership titles from two straight triples.
Investors pour resources into the Premiership which in turn attracts some of the best players to England. The clubs, companies and the countries of origin of the players are their beneficiaries of the quality football of the Premiership.
With the best league in country, English players are still not competitive enough when benmarked against foreign players. They are rarely found in foreign leagues.
England’s records at the FIFA World Cup is stilled at the 1966 home victory over West Germany.
Since the 1966 loss to England, Germany has become one of the most successful teams in the FIFA World Cup, winning in 1974, 1990, and 2014, to tie with Italy, and only one less than the most successful team, Brazil. Germany had won the World Cup in 1954.
Unlike England, the number of top foreign players in the Germany league is low.
National team successes appear to be adversely affected by countries with domestic leagues that foreign players dominate.
While England has top globally valued clubs, the national team is not successful, though billions of dollars keep rolling into the coffers of the Premiership.
