Swansea supremo Huw Jenkins thinks that ‘Game 39’ (or the ‘international round’) will be put in place within the next few years - Josh Kilmister thinks it may be a necessary evil...
Before I go any further into this, I’ll explain exactly what "Game 39" is. To put it at its simplest, it is an extra game in the Premier League that would be played against ‘a rival top-flight club’ outside of the UK. I’m all with raising the profile of the Premier League overseas, but I’m not sure this is the right way to go about it.
The original launch of "Game 39" was the 2010/11 season, but this was then delayed to the 2013/14 season - and obviously that didn’t happen either. In 2010 the FA decided to give up on the idea, but now talks seem to have started to reappear.
Huw Jenkins has said that, if Game 39 is to go ahead, it is vital that the Swans are part of it if we wish to carry on progressing as a club, and though he thinks that it’s ‘inevitable that it will happen'. While he doesn’t necessarily agree with it, he understands it may be a necessary evil to keep the club moving forward:.
“While we as genuine football fans may not be 100 percent behind it because it’s going to be a big change, the other side of that is we need to make sure that we’re on the bandwagon because you can get left behind otherwise
“There’s definitely going to be a run of games played in other countries, whetherthat’s in the next 12 months or in the next two to three years. It may be a sad reflection of where football is going, but unless we’re part of that and getting revenues from that we’re going to fall behind
“We have to make sure, whether we like it or not, we’re on board with it”
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Swansea-City-chairman-Huw-Jenkins-says-39th/story-23053611-detail/story.html
For me, I couldn’t ask for anymore from a chairman, and that is possibly one of my favourite interviews with Huw I’ve ever read. What I love most about what Jenkins said is how he calls himself a ‘genuine football fan - it’s amazing to have a chairman so passionate about the game when we’ve got our noisy neighbours along the M4 who have the exact opposite. More important though, is the fact that we’re willing to change. Sure, it may not be the best thing to do in a fan’s perspective, but for business it’s probably the right thing to do.
I have to say I completely agree with Huw. I think the Premier League should be kept within Britain, and we shouldn’t need any games abroad to attract interest from elsewhere. Just look at us! Sure, our international following could be larger, but for a club who have been in the top flight for no more than four years our following overseas is incredible. Only this past weekend we had fans from the Netherlands in the Liberty supporting the Swans, and I know for a fact that’s not the first time. They even come to away games!
There is one thing I think we can all agree on though. Huw hit the nail squarely on the head in saying that if we’re not willing to adapt, we’re going to fall behind - and it won’t take long.
Thanks to Josh for his latest piece - you can follow him on Twitter @JoshKilmister - Do you think "Game 39" is a good idea? Personally I'm not sold on the idea, but that's just my opinion. Get in touch using the comment section below!