All bs aside It's actually a very sad state of affairs 130 years of history down the drain. Could only happen in bury. That would never happen in Glasgow not out ibrokes way at least as they'd have every PPI and salesmen behind them. Oh and the sfa and UEFA
It is sad, Winter, I don't doubt that for a second; however - this is something that's always likely to happen in a country where there are well over 100 professional football clubs. Particularly in the North-West of England where there is one football club per 40, 000 people in that region.
It's an issue in Scotland too where many clubs have a false sense of their historical significance.
There are two clubs in the same street in Dundee?
If the population of Dundee supported only Dundee or Dundee United, then perhaps that could be sustainable, but the reality is that there are probably around 7-10 thousand Celtic fans in Dundee and 4-5 thousand zombies.
Even those young lads and lassies that would be traditionally more inclined to support the local clubs are now more likely to be Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea supporters because of the saturation of EPL pish.
The industrial heartland of the English North-West has been decimated over the last century. Places like Rochdale, Bury, Stockport and Altrincham are on their uppers and the residents of these towns are less likely to follow their local clubs and hitch a tram to Manchester or travel to Liverpool.
Perhaps amalgamating resources might be a solution, but in many cases pride would rather let fans see their side sink rather than hitch up with a local rival.
The big clubs don't give a shit, it's just an opportunity to grab another couple of thousand potential customers as far as they're concerned.