There are many things that aggravate fans of West Midlands sides, and the recent proposal for a combined team between five clubs is at the top of the list.
There is a very good reason why people will not voluntarily put rival football fans together in the same place, and it is the same reason why it does not happen with cats and dogs – they don’t get along. Unfortunately, as reported by The Sun, Birmingham mayoral candidate Sion Simon has not seemed to grasp this message as he has proposed a combined West Midlands team.
Simon made the statement at a Labour Party Conference, suggesting that the West Midlands needs one “global brand” to compete with the Premier League big guns. Since then it has been met with widespread dismissal from fans and media alike.
Can you imagine for one second Villa and Birmingham fans sitting down side by side at a game and cohesively cheering on the same team? How about picturing the tension between Wolves and West Brom fans? The huge animosity the Coventry faithful hold towards Villa?
Simply put, supporters would not allow it. The bitter rivalries that have been formed over the years between all these teams mean something, and when the day comes that the fixtures are released they are the first dates that people look for. On top of this, nobody knows how it would even work.
First off, the size of the collective squad would be astronomical. Obviously they would have to whittle it down, and even then just look at how many footballers would be left out. Not to mention the fact that there would be four glaring holes in the Football League pyramid that would need to be filled.
You also cannot expect players to just merge into a great chemistry overnight. The sheer thought of passing the ball to one of your rivals is something that would be too much for a lot of stubborn footballers these days, and they just would not be able to form an effective unit. The premise just does not make any sense.
Then there is the lineage. These five teams have all had fantastic moments over the course of their histories, and fans are naturally very proud of that fact. You cannot just throw all of that to the side in favour of some bizarre idea. Oh, and how is the decision made on which stadium to use? Will they rotate annually or game by game, or just pick one out of a hat?
West Midlands football is not in the best of places right now with just one team in the top flight, but as they have done in the past the region will rally and continue to create history in the sport for years to come – separately.
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