FOOTBALL IS DEAD

You may recall that last year The Sports Nexus, an independent pressure group committed to improving the condition of all sports in Britain, released a study that proved what we have all long suspected: the Premiership is becoming increasingly predictable and competitively imbalanced. The research, conducted by Professors Christine Oughton and Jonathan Michie of Birkbeck University, showed how the top five were pulling away from the rest. Top five? I remember thinking how quaint and comforting a concept that seemed when three clubs were manifestly a class apart and one of those, Chelsea, were clearly bent on establishing a superiority over even Manchester United and Arsenal. Yet Liverpool's extraordinary European triumph appeared to vindicate the researchers' cut-off point. Their latest findings, however, indicate that the overall state of the nation's elite football is more perturbing than ever to those who fear that, when the boom ends - and a levelling-off of Premiership attendances suggests the time is nigh - we shall be left with a permanent hierarchy, as is the case in Scotland, Holland, Portugal and elsewhere. In other words, that English football will emerge the worse, rather than the better, for its golden years.

Oughton and Michie use careful mathematics to reach the conclusion that the degree of competitive balance last season was lower than ever before. ''Our data focus on inequalities between clubs without looking at the identities of the clubs,'' they say, ''so, although Chelsea won the Premiership for the first time, the Premier League is more unbalanced than ever in terms of inequalities between the big clubs and the rest. Moreover, given Chelsea's wage expenditure [more than doubled in a season, they say], there is a danger that this will lead to a further deterioration in competitive balance.''

The question of what should be done about the widening gulf between those who can and those who can only dream was addressed last year, when Oughton and Michie recommended that UEFA be encouraged to redistribute a higher proportion of future television income to national associations for sharing among clubs not participating in the Champions League and that the Premier League should resolve to divide any future television income equally among the 20 clubs (anything up to the present amount would still be distributed on the basis of 50 per cent equally, 25 per cent on the number of live appearances and 25 per cent league position). ''What we are trying to do is be realistic,'' said Oughton, adding that ''there is a very good business case'' for having a more balanced league.

Of course there is. Yet, according to The Sports Nexus, their document last year drew no response from the Premier League. Today they will issue a plea for both the Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore, and his FA equivalent, Brian Barwick, to take seriously the disease of predictability in the game. ''Football is a sport. The outcome must not be known at the start of the game. Yet increasingly this is no longer the case. The trend shows no sign of abating. At what point do you draw the line and say 'enough is enough'? At the current rate, the financial dominance of rich clubs over poor is set to destroy football in England as it has in Scotland. It is essential that this issue is addressed before it is too late.'' Maybe that last bit goes too far - just who are the poor clubs in the Premiership? - but for their courage in looking beyond the glamorous facade of our football The Sports Nexus deserve a reasoned reply. Let the authorities provide it this time.