Does anyone else feel like I do? Whenever we pass through a new higher level of transfer fee spending a little bit of me / my allegiance to the game dies - its like I lose a bit of the connection to the game, going from grass roots to extreme fantasy level & the pace at which the transfer fees are rising just gets faster.

Today we see midfielders fetching 100 Million plus - whats next ?

If your not owned by a small (or large) country, or have the backing that amounts to the value of a sovereign wealth fund, what chance do you have of ever winning anything that matters.

At the moment I still love going to SP & watching Palace, but unless we see a super league to take these mega rich clubs onto their own new elite platform how much longer is it going to be enjoyable?

IDK Maybe its just this morning, waking up to the headlines today, no idea - just thought I would reflect on here & see who else is feeling the same.

There must be loads of us (maybe even the majority) who think football money is obscene. I continue to be staggered by the transfer fees and salaries paid for and to players.

OK, it's entertainment and fetches huge global income for all manner of organisations associated with the sport and, as my old dad tried to justify, their earning ability is limited to a relatively short time span. But, the game is followed by a largely working class group who probably earn less in a year than some players are paid for a week, yet they seem to overlook the irony of it all, especially when you hear some players trying hard to string a few words together.

Unfortunately, it's not just football that is affected by extortionate amounts of money. Most professional sport has gone down the same route. Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton to name just two who have been rewarded hugely for involvement in the sport they love. That's before you get into boxing and American sports folk.

Fact is that it's mostly driven by greed of either the sports men and women themselves or the corporates that profit from it all.

I despise it, but feel helpless to change it and too old to give up my overriding love of watching sport mostly from my armchair these days. So, COYP and start the season by giving the Blades a good thrashing tomorrow.

Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

To put how crazy football spending has become, consider these facts. In 1979 the recently late Trevor Francis was the first British player to be sold for £1 m. The overall change in prices in the UK, as measured by the retail prices index, between 1979 and today, is around 6.5. Yet Declan Rice has just gone for £105m, not £6.5m, which based on the general rise in prices would be the equivalent figure for the most expensive player! No wonder most of us feel football money has just spiralled out of control and bears no relation to rational business behaviour and the game has lost touch with many of its supporters