The beautiful game? You're having a laugh!

29 Apr 2010

The panel debate the motion 'The beautiful game? You're having a laugh!'

Speaking in favour of the motion are Tom Bower, Dominic Lawson, and Ed Smith.

Tom Bower points out that Portsmouth FC has had four owners in previous year, including an arms dealer and a fraudster, and that now they even owe money to the Boy Scouts and St John’s Ambulance.

Dominic Lawson recalls watching England play Tunisia in the 1998 World Cup, where he would hear the constant abuse by fans who then spend the next three days chasing North Africans through the streets of Marseilles.

Ed Smith reminds us that it has been fifteen years since anyone other than Manchester United, Chelsea or Arsenal - the clubs with the highest wage bills - won the Premier League.

Speaking against the motion are David Sheepshanks, Garth Crooks, and Hunter Davies.

David Sheepshanks points to the success of the English game as extraordinary - 73,000 fans watched Southampton beat Carlisle in the final of the lowly Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Garth Crooks advises us to ignore the prima donnas and the sordid tales about footballers visiting brothels, and not to confuse the performer with the performance.

Hunter Davies indicates that there has always been outrage about football - newspapers went mad about cash ruining the game when Alf Common moved from Sunderland for £1,000 in 1905.

First vote: 280 For, 282 Against, 139 Don't know

Final vote: 413 For, 283 Against, 11 Don't know

Listen to a full audio version of the debate below:

Speakers for the motion

Ed Smith

Former England cricketer; journalist and author
Dominic Lawson

Journalist
Tom Bower

Investigative journalist and author who has published books on Robert Maxwell, Richard Branson, Mohamed Fayed and Conrad and Lady Black