
Issue No 54		19 May 2000

LaborNET	Ask Neale	Tool of the Week

Sport

Noel Hester on the Demise of the Crazy Gang

Question. Which is the world's greatest soccer club? Manchester United? Barcelona? Real Madrid? Ajax of Amsterdam? Bayern Munich? Boca Juniors? What about Wimbledon F.C.? Ha ha ha goes the soccer world.


	Noel Hester

But if you measure performance relative to means than the achievements of the Dons stacks up with any.

23 years ago Wimbledon was playing in South England's Isthmian League - a football equivalent of the middle of the Borneo jungle. In 9 years they went from election into the fourth division to the dizzy heights of the Premier League. Red hot favourites to be relegated in their first season they finished in the top six. Within another two years they won the FA Cup beating the mighty Liverpool - then the giants of European football.

But last week the whole fairy tale imploded when a disastrous run of losses at the end of the season saw them relegated from the premier league after 14 years at the top.

Wimbledon's demise is a stark reality check of where soccer is going in a free market. When Wimbledon reached the Premier League their whole team was worth about the same as Paul Gascoigne's left leg. Their ground -Plough Lane - held 9000.

They have been competing against the like of multinational clothing label Manchester United with its 1.5 billion pound sharemarket valuation and unlimited resources to pour into their hobby football team.

Wimbledon's style of play was not always socially acceptable. It was built on aggro and team spirit - the crazy gang mentality of Vinnie Jones, Dave Bassett and John Fashanu. It wasn't at all pretty but it was all they had and they used it to amazing effect.

Wimbledon fell apart when the long time owner Sam Hammett brought in rich Norwegian partners to boost the club's cash resources. Out went manager Joe Kinnear - who had fashioned a formidable record - after he suffered a heart attack. In came Egil Olsen, a Norwegian marxist with a penchant for wellies and a bizarre line of conversation as well as an impressive coaching pedigree.

But he was a totally inappropriate choice - a quiet Norwegian who was more at home in the fjords and valleys of Scandinavia than in the South London prankster environment of Wimbledon.

Wimbledon has been a living fantasy for all small clubs and players - that they too could fulfil their dreams. But now its over and it's both sad and worrying.

The free market and big money - in football as in all else - continue to devour.

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Issue 54 contents

Interview: South of the Border
Victorian Trades Hall chief Leigh Hubbard on life under Bracks, militant unionism and why more people march in Melbourne.

Politics: Jeff Shaw's Second Wave
The full text of the NSW Industrial Relations Minister's speech to Labor Council announcing the Carr Government's IR reform agenda.

Unions: Reith's Laws: Just Say NO
The ACTU has called on Labor and the Democrats to reject Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith's anti-industry bargaining Workplace Relations 2000 Bill out right.

History: A Breed Of Their Own
Labour historian Greg Patmore explains what makes his fraternity tick - and why they're still going strong and making history.

International: Sony's Asian Showdown
The Japanese electronic giant Sony is threatening to shutdown production facilities in Indonesia - where a prolonged strike has cost it US$200milliom - and move to next door Malaysia where electronic workers are banned from forming a union.

Human Rights: Good Guys, Bad Guys
Everywhere we look -in our newspapers, on the television, in reports by business leaders, academics and politicians - advocacy of human rights seems to be on a collision course with governmental and business interests.

Review: New Workers, New Challenges
A new wave of thought is arguing that working life is changing - but this doesn't necessarily deal unions out the action.

Satire: Rain Man Withdraws Endorsement of Qantas
After the third major safety incident in the space of a year, Qantas has lost the confidence of the most famous public supporter of its once unblemished safety record, the autistic star of Rain Man, Raymond.

» Carr Moves on Casuals

» Democrats Wavering on Reith Bill

» Exit Visas for Child Care Workers

» GST Pay Claims to Target Allowances

» Tide Turns On Competitive Tendering

» Joy Takes Message To The World

» Mines Out as Rio Tinto Torps Talks

» Political Economy for Activists, 2000

» Unions March for Reconciliation

» STOP PRESS: AK-47s used in coup against union-aligned Fiji Labour Government