Harty on Albion playing in the Premier League

FALMER is coming and I, for one, am genuinely excited. However, there is a nagging doubt at the back of my mind over one aspect.

I have no doubt, and I’m prepared to put it in print now, that the Albion will play a Premiership fixture during or even before the 2016-17 season.

My concern is that, while, like the rest, I’m passionate about the Albion, I look around and since the inception of the Premiership, a number of clubs, who I would put on a par with the Albion, have made it to the top flight but it’s ended up costing them dear chasing the dream.

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Hull, Charlton, Barnsley, Bradford, Portsmouth, Southampton, Coventry, Palace, and that’s before you look at how close Leeds United were to packing up altogether.

What’s going on at Liverpool is a case in point. Reds fans can bang on about history and heritage but if those debts aren’t cleared and the club’s finances seriously overhauled, Liverpool will do a Leeds, regardless of how many European Cups they have won.

Clearly, some of my initial worries are tempered by the fact that the Albion do not have foreign owners. We have almost the dream combination of both a fan and a very astute businessman in Tony Bloom.

Will the Albion learn the lessons of other clubs before them in the pursuit of their ambitions?

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I for one think so, although having said that and while I’ve made my bold Premiership prediction, could the Liverpool saga be the beginning of a new chapter in football?

I went to a pre-World Cup lunch over in Brighton in June, and had a very interesting conversation with a senior bank official.

Basically, a number of the banks, having had so much bad press over other issues, are sitting tight waiting for one bank to make the first move and foreclose. A bit like a buffet queue, no one likes being the first but once someone makes their way to the table, many follow.

Many have said over the years that there are too many professional clubs in this country. Maybe this global financial meltdown will bring things to a head and perhaps, in 10 years’ time, there will a reduction in the number of full-time clubs in this country.

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Having said that, without wishing to canonise Tony Bloom, that is the advantage of having a fan, albeit minted, running the show.

He’s shrewd enough not to overstep the mark, yet has the money and ambition to realise the club’s potential.

In my time on the radio and in print, I have been criticised and in certain quarters ridiculed for suggesting that the Albion are potentially the biggest club on the South Coast.

They are, and come next August, with 20,000 local people watching every week, our rivals will realise they have been “playing at it” for all these years.

And I’m sure, whatever they do achieve, won’t be against a backdrop of mounting debt and crazy spending.