If you’re from the UK you won’t have been able to escape all the hype and news surrounding the start of the new football season. It’s a time when football fans stop going out with the other half shopping on a Saturday and start staying in to listen to the football scores come in then later either staying in for Match of the Day or recording it whilst they are out.



Every year it seems that the hype surrounding the new season increases and this year was no different as more millions were invested in to and spent by Premier League football teams. For ninety minutes each weekend young men who are played multi millions each year are worshipped liked gods by thousands in the stands and millions watching at home. It’s no surprise then when you ask many young boys what they want to be when they grow up they will same a footballer.

The sport has got even more lucrative this year with more foreign owners with big pockets buying in to clubs in all leagues and now with another broadcaster Setanta Sports trying to break the stranglehold that Sky Sports has on Premiership coverage it means the revenues for clubs is even higher. So now I hear you ask: Why am I talking about this in my weekly Talented Young People Blog? Well here’s why.

This extra revenue and income may be good for the clubs and players finances but it increases the levels of stress and pressure put on teams who in the main consist of a high number of young talented players to achieve. The more money an owner puts in to a club the better results they want and the more they pay you as a player the better performances they want.

With the season merely three games old every game is already being held under close scrutiny by the fans, the press and the clubs with any defeat seen as a reason to sell or let go a player or a manager. This is a tough enough situation for the older experienced players to handle but for a fresh faced sixteen year old making their debut this year it’s a different story. No longer does being good count the only thing that counts is the result and based on that no matter how good your performance is it could spell trouble.

It’s not just on the TV stage that talented young footballers are affected. The lure of the money and celebrity lifestyle has put stars in the eyes of many parents and young children who all dream of that life. This has meant that the competition an the pressure to achieve and be the best has filtered it’s way down through the youth game with some big clubs running academies for players as young as eight.

Now I’m not saying young people shouldn’t have dreams as I believe young people if they have the right motivation and support can achieve anything but I’m saying that I don’t like where this high pressure situation is going. There needs to be more support out there for the ones that don’t make it as lives have been torn apart through the dream factory which is football in this country and more support for those that have made it to deal with the pressure they find themselves under because I do fear that sooner or later the pressure is going to become too much for some people.

To have your say on this week’s blog and young Premiership Footballers join in our topic of the week by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php't=149

Adam Sibley

Founder of the Talented Young People organisation

www.talentedyoungpeople.com

"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com/