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Premier League: A History in 10 Matches by Jim White (view source)
Revision as of 12:06, 2 October 2013
, 12:06, 2 October 2013no edit summary
Dyke pointed out before the inception of the Premier League there was a connection between football and business - business was where you made your money and football was where you lost it. The Premier League was created in 1992 and the first games involving the top clubs were played the following year.
By a happy coincidence the BSkyB television service was struggling - some say that losses of £1m a day were accruing. Rupert Murdoch believed that there was money to be made from movies but his executives saw the potential marketing opportunities from selling a subscription football service. At this point Dyke was sidelined and Alan Sugar advised Murdoch to ‘''blast the opposition out of the water'' and Sky's bid ensured that they won the live television rights thus turning the company's fortunes round.
White's book cleverly covers a series of ten matches, describing not only the games themselves but the events which shaped the league. The failed business models of Leeds United in the Peter Ridsdale era and Portsmouth under a succession of different - and some might say dodgy - owners are described in painful detail, particularly for those of us who supported Leeds. The story of Leeds has been well documented but White's book neatly presents the salient points leading to the eventual -and somewhat surprising - takeover of the club by the infamous Ken Bates.