Chairman's column: Norwich City

Read Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins' programme notes for today's clash with Norwich City.

Looking back at some of last week’s top football headlines makes we wonder at times where it is all going to end.

Talks about a breakaway European league for the ‘top’ clubs came after a change in the international television distribution monies of the Premier League, which were agreed last year to try to stop that sort of threat.

Championship clubs were then threatening their own breakaway from the EFL because of the difference of opinion surrounding the new five-year Sky TV deal and whether the terms are right for all the 72 clubs involved.

Having been involved for over 17 years in football administration at all levels and attended many EFL and Premier League meetings over that period, my concern, as always, is for the long-term future of our game.

Professional football clubs up and down the country try to compete with one another and look anywhere and everywhere to bring more income into their respective football clubs.

There has been a complete change of priorities at the top end of the football ladder and a lack of acceptance by the so-called big clubs that they carry ultimate responsibility for the massive wage inflation and running costs that now exist at most clubs in the modern game.

I fully accept the FA, Premier League and EFL are working hard to keep the British game at the forefront of world football, but any attempt to address the rising costs within football is a challenge that has always been ignored and rarely discussed with an appetite to address the underlying problem.

There have been some attempts to control costs with Financial Fair Play rules, but the overall need to collectively reduce wage bills and the money paid out in our game today seems to be a challenge and a step too far for administers of our great game.

The only answer we all read about every year is the constant quest to extract more and more money from football supporters to cover the massive overspend that exists in our professional game today.

The collective challenge is to work hard at cutting all costs within the game and set a target to start reducing the financial burden for all supporters up and down the country.

Lowering the price of matchday tickets across the board would be a start. Then we should be fully focusing on the overriding issue to eliminate the ever-increasing reliance on increased TV money to balance the books.

In my view this would be a massive step in the right direction for everyone involved in the game. It would start to redress the balance that has gone massively out of control and is threatening to ruin the game.

Today’s Championship fixture is against a strong Norwich City team who are top of the table and playing some lovely football under current manager Daniel Farke.

A warm welcome to all Norwich City directors, staff, players and supporters who have made the long trip to Swansea today.

Enjoy the game.

Huw