i'dbe very interested in reading that ryan. you might look at the formation of clubs via unions in the former soviet union (i.e. clubs for the people by the people).
for a lit review theres a great book "called the ball is round" and various chapters document the rise in income/revenues of clubs. there's also a great article here about the branding of the epl v the nba and the war between them for territory in china
i remember nick hornby gave a lecture about the identity of football clubs. he gave the an example of travelling back from cardiff after lfc won the fa cup from under arsenal's noses. he said that 10 years previously he would have been inconsolable. he thought he reason for that was that in the 80's and early 90's arsenal had the likes of keown, adams, winterburn etc. he felt he had an affintiy with these players cos they played for a long time and felt a level of pride in the club, whereas the team that lost to lfc was made up of players who, generally, hornby didn't care about in the arsenal team.
just thought that might be relevant in terms of the old school v modern game. this might help also
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2000/sep/03/newsstory.sport18personally speaking, its not necessarily lfc that i feel less connected to. its the game in general. its less of a game for the people. i mean, the average man in the street i.e. the working man, who would have been the lifeblood of the english club...how many of them can now afford to go with their kids to see lfc week in, week out? probably very few. it's no longer a working class game. i need to empahsise that i'm not from liverpool. it would be easier to percieve a connection between a local to the club but i, and i know alot of irish are the same towards their team, feel a real affinity to the club and the city. i feel that affinity has wained though. it's not just the lack of accessibility for the 'working man' and family to go to the ground every week, it's the lack of local lads playing for the local team (and that doesn't just go for lfc, it goes for the mancs, arsenal, bolton, villa etc), it's the inherent cheating in the game (diving, feigning injury, appealing to the ref to red card an opponent). i feel the values of football are dwindling, cheating is rewared, honesty is frowned upon. i feel its a game that has swung from honest, local lads playing a physical game and shaking hands at the end to two offshore owned corporate giants pitted against each other who will go to any ends using as many dirty tricks as much as skill to win. and it kind of leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
in saying that i still love my team....just not a much as i did.
