As the television broadcast revenues continue to pour in and the game gives birth to ever bigger, richer stars questions continue to be raised not only about the sustainability of the current model, but the fairness of a system of such inequally distributed wealth.

Chippenham Town Supporters Club Chair and sole member, Dave Bingham, had this to say on the issue, “It’s a real problem at the moment. Some clubs just seem to have all the money. There’s clubs at the top end of the league that aren’t even collecting subs, other sides have four stands arranged around the pitch, I’ve visited clubs where they don’t even share the ground with a local under-11s team.”

Dave Baker of the There’s Too Much Money in Football Alliance explained how these financial issues are distorting the landscape of football, “What happens is you get a player who has two clubs to choose between, one that’s in walking distance of his local Burger King, willing to supply him with post match Greggs’ and a few cans to have on the coach, and then you’ve got clubs where you have to get a lift with the physio who is also the left back who is also the club chairman who is also the groundsman who is also a professional carpenter. Naturally, this is going to create difficulties.”

Footballing authorities are, belatedly, beginning to make moves to address these problems, “We’ve had to come up with a clear ruling on this” said some jobsworth, “Clubs should not being supplying their players with lager. If the lads want to crack open a couple of cold ones before going on, they need to buy it for themselves.”