Footballers Don’t Know How Much Milk Costs, And Other Shocking Facts
The Liverpool players celebrate with the FA Cup, and a bottle of milk each, in the dressing room after their 2-1 win: (l-r) Geoff Strong, Tommy Smith, Wilf Stevenson, Ron Yeats, Chris Lawler, Roger Hunt, Gerry Byrne, Peter Thompson, Tommy Lawrence, Ian Callaghan
Date: 01/05/1965
PEOPLE often wheel out the line about footballers being overpaid. Some of them are indeed, paid gigantic sums of money. Many will tell you that it is too much ‘to kick a ball around for 90 minutes’, but of course, those people are gasping simpletons.
Of course, there’s a lot more to being a footballer than turning up on a Saturday afternoon and running around for one-and-a-half hours. Either way, there’s no getting away from the fact that football has made some young men millionaires.
And so, to Robbie Savage, TV and radio’s mystifying mouthpiece – chosen by out-of-the-loop executives as ‘One Of The People’. He’s seen as an everyman, when in actual fact, the everyman would liked to kick Robbie Savage up the arse for the rest of eternity.
Savage has pointed out that most footballers have no idea how much it costs fans to go to watch a game or how much a pint of milk costs. You see, milk is the barometer for how much things are. If you don’t know how much you pay for your milk, then you’re some kind of Fancy Dan living in La-La Land.
Savage said: “I understand after reading the BBC’s Price of Football study why there is concern over the rising cost of watching football in this country but, for most Premier League players, it is not something they are ever going to worry about.”
“To be completely honest, during my 20-year playing career, I never once thought about how much it was costing fans to go to games. The truth is that most Premier League players live in a bubble. If you ask most of them what a ticket costs, they would not have a clue.”
“You have to remember that most of them would not know what a pint of milk costs either.”
Now, this is exactly the kind of cobblers that gives credence to the halfwitted no-marks who bleat on about the amount footballer’s are paid.
However, these same people don’t ever look at the broader picture. Firstly, is football just the Premier League? No it isn’t. There’s thousands of footballs who work part-time to sustain their careers. There’s players who aren’t on multi-million pound contracts. And for those that are, they breath rarefied air, just like other people in fantastically well paid jobs.
You see, while a lot of footballers won’t know how much bread costs, neither will a percentage of actors, musicians, car dealership owners, F1 drivers, DJs, journalists, graphic designers and… the list could potentially go on forever.
Would Tom Cruise be able to tell you how much it costs one of his fans to watch a film he’s been in? Would an Kevin McCloud be able to tell you how much a door frame costs? Does a well paid stand-up comedian know how much a tub of cotton buds costs these days? Has anyone ever asked Graham Norton how much a box of Trill costs?
It is a complete nonsense to expect a 20-something with a million quid in the bank to concern themselves with such a thing. Their job is to be a competent athlete who is able to block out the thousand-or-so people haranguing their every move and try not to rise to the bait of people calling them a wanker on Twitter.
There’s probably people on £15,000 a year who aren’t sure how much milk costs… because it doesn’t matter. We’re in the Western World where we’ve got more money than sense. People spend £100 on a night out or throw £70 at a pair of trainer while forking out £60 on records or video games.
Should footballers care how much it costs a fan to get into a ground? Not at all. Should a chairman, who has a team around them designed to listen and keep the business of the football club ticking over or making more profit? Yes.
That won’t happen though because, the people who make the money, the people who entertain and infuriate… they’re the ones who are supposed to juggle the life of a millionaire celebrity and One Of Us.
Can we come up with some new questions now please?
Posted: 17th, October 2014 | In: Celebrities, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
