We seem to have by-passed Autumn and headed straight on into the depths of Winter. What this means is no getting dragged around the shops for me so I’ve got an afternoon to enjoy whatever there is to watch. The pub would normally be an option but the weather is too bad for that, I’m getting old, I like home comforts!

You’d think then with all the money in football that on a Saturday afternoon there would be something to watch then? No bloody joy. The Premier League sell their rights all around the world too all and sundry and in most countries you can watch a ton of games. That’s half the reason why the pub on a Saturday afternoon is so appealing. Why then can’t I turn on my TV and watch one of the Premier League games that kick off at 3 o’clock today, there’s something wrong with that?! Not only do I now have to spend a bloody fortune on Setanta and Sky Sports to stand a good chance of watching my favourite team but there’s still no bloody chance of watching a Saturday afternoon game live. It was greed to split the live rights to 2 pay only services but even then the fans get screwed over by not showing live football when most of the games are on.

There are options, I could hook up a dodgy satellite dish and watch the games live via Scandinavia or the Middle East like so many of the local pubs do. It’s ironic just how many more games other countries get live access to. Nowadays there is always the option of the internet as well, there are a variety of ways of watching live sports online. None of them are that high quality, they do the job but it’s still no substitute for a proper TV channel that you can watch on your large screen TV. It costs a fortune for your Sky Subscription, your Sky Sports Package and now your Setanta channels and still you’re left without what every other country has.

I’m not buying what they’re try to sell about it affecting football attendance either. Week in and week out most stadiums are full or nearly full, it’s impossible to get tickets to some Premier League games. I could go and watch my local team, but then again they’re crap so why would I spend the money to stand in the cold and watch a team a don’t care about? What I want is simple, the next time Sky go in to negotiate the rights to broadcast the Premier League I want them to go in with some balls and just ask one simple question – “How come broadcasters from every other country get to show Saturday afternoon games and we don’t?”