One of the perks, or pitfalls, of being a journalist is that your job will take you to far-flung places from time to time.
In my case it was to report on the Europa League final in Hamburg little over two months, and it was difficult not to be impressed when observing the bustling day-to-day life in a major German city.
People are said to reflect their surrounding environments and if Hamburg is anything to go by, the Germans have the correct philosophy.
Their transport system is efficient and, like virtually everything else there, built on trust. Beer is also sold and drunk openly on the platforms and around the city itself with no signs of public disorder.
In short, to use the old cliché, it really is a very different country.
Where top flight football is concerned, Bundesliga clubs are properly-run and financially regulated, putting their counterparts in Gloucester Square to shame.
Critics have been quick to dismiss the concept of supporter ownership in light of Barcelona's recent financial problems but the beauty of the German model is that it has always taken a no-frills approach to players with a refusal to be entangled in a bidding war with bitter rivals.
The lure of the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A still remains an attractive prospect for most world-class players but the Bundesliga also has its plus points which have seen the likes of Arjen Robben and Luca Toni secure moves to Germany, much to the delight of fans.
Supporters themselves form the basis of a '50+1' ownership model constituting that they retain a minimum 51% stake, preventing any single entity taking full control and repeating the problems encountered by Portsmouth, Manchester United and Liverpool.
One thing that sets the Bundesliga aside from the Premier League in the stands is that fans are treated with respect and are not just viewed as cash cows that the clubs can fleece whenever they please or as hooligans by paranoid police 'football intelligence' officers.
Tickets cost little over £10 per top flight game and include transport to and from the ground in the price. The stadiums themselves are simply breathtaking.
Hamburg's Imtech Arena cost up to €100million to construct and holds over 57,000, which begs the question as to why the proposed new Anfield is going to cost an estimated £400million for a stadium which will hold a minimum of 60,000.
The proof is also in the pudding on the continental and world stages as Bayern Munich proved by reaching the Champions League final, whilst Germany's crop of home-grown starlets gave a stunning exhibition of football en route to the World Cup semi-final in South Africa.
So why can't the UK take a leaf out of Germany's book on both a footballing and social level?
It is because as a nation we have it drummed into us that the Germans are the 'old enemy', with right-wing advocates citing the 'two World Wars and one World Cup' mantra which, to be brutally honest, is embarrassing and reflective of the UK's island mentality.
The men who gave their lives for our freedom in those two wars would not be proud of loud-mouthed bigots singing 'Ten German Bombers' as some false act of defiance after seeing their national side defeated in a football match.
Britain could better itself in so many ways if it took a leaf out of the Germans' book and that of other European countries that abolished the draconian approach to society a very long time ago.
Sadly, that change will never happen.
Giant Spectacular Waste of Money
(Sun 22/04)
The End of the World
(Sun 10/07)
A Taste of Their Own Medicine
(Sat 04/12)
A Dangerous Precedent
(Tue 23/11)
...And the Circus Leaves Town
(Sat 11/09)
Post a comment