Difficult to believe my son is the only kid in his year group to watch Premier League football live | OneFootball

Christmas is approaching and we are coming to the end of term with the kids at the school in London where I work.

I was with some fifty or more 17 and 18 year olds waiting for the local Church of England priest to come and give a talk about the magic of Christmas.

In my opinion, the magic of Christmas is the festive football games we can all look forward to.

To distract us from everything else.

As we wait for the Reverend to arrive I chat with some of the lads.

I end up showing them photos of me and the daft lad at the Leicester game up in the Leazes balcony seats at St James’ Park.

Jamal and Muqtadir are well impressed by my pics but have never been to a live game.

When I suggest local teams Charlton and Millwall, the roll of the eyes speaks volumes.

The Premier League is where everyone wants to be.

These kids have grown up with the Premier League and have no concept of supporting a team that is not constantly on TV or any other form of media.

A couple of weeks ago my nephew (Bristol Rovers) visited us in London and asked a telling question of my son. “Are you the only one at your school who goes to watch live football?” The answer being yes of course. Three Premier league games so far this season (as well as the Dulwich games down in the Isthmian League).

Difficult to believe that a teenager is the only lad in a whole year group that gets to see Premier League football live, albeit through membership, ballot and a near six hundred mile round trek.

Back in the nineties, I used to watch James Richardson on Channel 4 previewing the weekend football in Italy before the big live game on the Sunday. Serie A was the league that everyone wanted to be in. All the best players in the world were there performing to massive crowds. English football was in the doldrums.

How things have changed.

Now the place to be is the Premier League.

The media and big business has latched on to this phenomenon and the big European clubs want a bit of the action. The European Super League, or it’s most recent manifestation, trying once again.

Last weekend I met up with the young lads who used to get me and my son away tickets for Newcastle United matches. These twenty somethings appear to be a dying breed now.

Back in the days of Mickey Quinn, the ground was packed with twenty somethings, me included. Young lads in trainers and stone washed jeans. Even the rivals of the East Midlands DLF called themselves the Forest Young Lads.

So what is happening?

The age demographic at football appears to be shifting with time.

The young lads are now in a minority, yet they are the future.

I think the greed of the Premier League could be its undoing, unless there is a serious effort to get youngsters back into the game and be part of and influence the whole experience that is live football.