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In recent years, we have witnessed numerous fan protests against modern football. Starting in the early 2000s, supporters began voicing their anger toward the new ownership models that reshaped their favorite clubs. For example, in 2002, Wimbledon fans decided to create a new club after the owners chose to move the team away from south London.
As a result, AFC Wimbledon was born—a direct act of resistance against the owners’ controversial decision. Similarly, just three years later in Manchester, supporters formed United of Manchester to protest the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United. These two examples highlight how fans began reclaiming the soul of the game. (You can read more about these stories here.)
I’m going to start with this article a short series on the story around this movement. This first “episode” aims to describe the concept of modern football and explain why fans hate modern football.
Since the early 2000s, the movement opposing modern football has grown steadily stronger. Over time, fans have developed increasingly creative and diverse ways to resist the sport’s transformation. Consequently, the movement has spread beyond the United Kingdom and taken root across Europe.
In Germany for instance, football followed a similar path after the Bundesliga’s formation in 1963. Gradually, smaller local clubs disappeared, while larger city teams gained dominance. The deep bond between clubs and their communities began to fade. By the 1980s, sponsorship deals had become essential, and rising player salaries turned football into a business.
Later, in the 2000s, sponsorship money skyrocketed, pushing German football even further toward commercialization. Unlike political or government reforms, these shifts came from gradual market changes rather than external pressure. Today, wealthy investors own many clubs and manage them like corporations, further distancing them from the fans who built their legacy. Meanwhile, top clubs generate millions, while smaller teams struggle to survive.
Football has evolved into a vast global industry that treats supporters as consumers within a highly commercialized environment. Modern stadiums now resemble shopping malls, filled with stores, restaurants, and entertainment spaces designed to maximize profit.
Moreover, football has become a dominant force in the global entertainment landscape, standing alongside movies, television, and music. Fans idolize footballers as celebrities, and media companies spend billions of euros for broadcasting rights. At the same time, major brands compete fiercely to display their logos on players’ jerseys, while wealthy investors continue buying clubs and pouring in unprecedented sums of money. Consequently, football clubs have transformed into powerful global brands that generate more revenue each year.
This transformation has also triggered a cultural clash between traditional football values and the modern, commercialized version of the game.
In another part of this series, I’ll examine how this conflict began, how it evolved, and how it reshaped the identity of football fans.
This article is written by Rareș Rădoiu.
