Adam Withrington: Don't break the closed period

Ok put this in your pipe and smoke it. I have a major problem with licensees showing football on foreign satellite systems on a Saturday afternoon. There. I said it. I feel better now.

Because while I totally understand why licensees are buying foreign satellite systems to show Premiership football, many are also crossing a line.

The pricing of the package to show Premiership football by Sky for the pub trade over the last five years has created unsurprising uproar; and an understandable desire by licensees to go for the cheaper option of buying foreign satellite providers.

But the majority of licensees who go down this avenue also looking to take full commercial advantage and show Premiership games on a Saturday afternoon.

This of course breaks the "closed period" rule. In an agreement with European governing body UEFA British broadcasters do not show games on a Saturday afternoon between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

But feeling "done over" by Sky's pricing policies licensees that have decided to go down the foreign satellite line are increasingly breaking this rule - perhaps understandably feeling like they want to make the most of the situation.

This is a massive problem - one which hits football clubs hugely. The closed period is still vitally important for the football community.

You may think this ludicrous. After all Premiership club grounds are full every week aren't they?

Certainly in the two seasons my club Watford hit the Premiership in the last ten years it no longer became an easy matter to get to a game. Where in the lower leagues you could get a ticket on the get, in the Premiership popularity soared. So ending the closed period is hardly going to impact on the income of these clubs.

So, I hear you say, what's the problem?

The problem is the smaller clubs. Showing games regularly in the closed period will do huge damage to them.

Take any club from the Championship division downwards. They rely on their communities of local fans to boost their ticket gates.

But taking advantage of this boon offered by foreign satellite providers enables you to show games involving Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea live on TV at the same time.

You can bet your bottom dollar the gates of your local club would be badly affected. Don't under-estimate how widespread the support is in your local community for the top four Premiership clubs is - no matter where you are in the UK. Localism is not a growing fashion in football.

So what is going to happen to the group of mates thinking about braving the cold November rain to see their local club, or the father thinking of taking his kid to see a game when there is the promise of Man Utd on the telly? In the warm. Out of the rain. Quite simple - they won't bother. Think of all the revenue this will take away from the club - ticket receipts, food and beverage sales, club shop sales after the game…

By flouting the closed period rule you are creating as many problems for your local communities as supermarket pricing is doing for community pubs.

Your quarrel should solely be with the pricing of Sky every season and the relentless price increases. The message being presented to government and within the industry is confused and badly mixed up in the closed period debate.

It may be boom time for Premier League clubs, but it sure as hell is not for smaller, local clubs. So many are teetering on the brink of administration and in some cases have already been there.