During the heyday of then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the early 1980s, one tag team composed of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid befittingly represented Great Britain under the moniker British Bulldogs. With their incredible blend of strength and seamless teamwork, this duo that proudly wore the British flag was one of the greatest teams ever to emerge in the WWF during that time.

They started off in the WWF by establishing a heated feud with the notorious Hart Foundation, consisting of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Niedhart. Showcasing their technical wrestling skills, the British Bulldogs elevated the tag team matches to a more intricate yet entertaining level as they generated a string of dazzling bouts with the equally talented but more flamboyant Hart Foundation. The Bulldogs eventually moved on to feud with the reigning tag team champions at that time, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, also dubbed as the Dream Team, culminating in a tag team title match at the much-hyped Wrestlemania 2 that resulted in the Bulldogs’ first and only tag team title in the WWF. While maintaining their storied Dream Team rivalry, they also preserved their title against former champions called the Foreign Legion, comprising of Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik. Later on, after sustaining a critical injury that sidelined Dynamite Kid, the British Bulldogs eventually dropped their title to their original rivals, the Hart Foundation. And it was a downhill trip from there, as the no-nonsense demeanor of the Bulldogs was discarded in favor of bringing in with them an actual bulldog named Matilda. Eventually, the British Bulldogs would leave the WWF after participating in a 10-member team match in the 1988 edition of the Survivor Series.

Nevertheless, they were forever cemented as wrestling’s most dynamic and finest tag team to ever come from the shores of Great Britain.

The latter part of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first saw dramatic changes in English Football. Historically and for very many years, all games kicked off at 3.00pm on Saturday afternoons. It was tradition. Immovable. Families and friends built there social lives around it. Then ‘big money’ started to influence and very quickly dominate the national game that had, for generations, been the preserve of the supporters.

Today, Saturday afternoon matches are mainly reserved for lower league clubs. The Premier League has sold its sole to the television companies. Supporters have become secondary, sidelined, manipulated, utilised. As a result of television revenues salaries have rapidly spiraled out of control, £20,000 a week, £50,000, £100,000, £150,000. How can this be justified economically or morally, when the average person in Britain earns considerably less than that in a working year, in several working years.

It wasn’t so long ago when the vast majority of teams in the Football League fielded all English players, certainly all British. In the first year of the Premiership there were less than twenty foreign players, today that figure is over 60%. Nobody denies people the right to ply their trade wherever they can, to seek to better themselves, to support their families but haven’t we overstepped the mark? The influx of foreign players may well have enhanced the game, increasing world-wide demand for televised matches - and fuelling spiralling wage demands - but at what costs?

Whether the national team has been disadvantaged thus far is open to question but there can be little doubt that stifling opportunity and development at the grass roots level will, eventually, have an adverse effect on England’s performances.

However, there is a more immediate problem. Britain is just emerging from the deepest recession for decades yet millions and millions of pounds that is being earned by British football supporters is not being utilised to help the economy. Instead it is being channelled abroad through the bulging bank accounts of imported players. This makes no sense whatsoever.

The influx of foreign players is being matched by foreign coaches and foreign ownership. The country is losing its footballing identity. Nobody is immune from those with vast wealth who use the national game to further their own financial fortunes. Manchester United, once the richest club in the world, now have debts of over £700m, Liverpool over £200m. Both are owned by American businessmen… The consolation is that they will survive by virtue of their huge world-wide support and extensive commercial revenues. Others will not be so fortunate. Perhaps the biggest surprise to date is how so many clubs have managed to survive so long as the life blood is being drained from the sport.

We all recognise that progress is inevitable but progress needs to be managed, for the good of the game and especially for the good of the supporters without whom there would be no professional football. The major surprise and disappointment amid this revolution is why the football authorities seemingly stand transfixed, failing to regulate the game effectively, failing to give a strong lead, failing to take responsibility.

Amazingly, almost every club spends beyond their means. An increasing number are incurring the wrath of the tax man for unpaid bills leaving creditors to suffer as a result, to have their own businesses put at risk. This is inexcusable. Why do football clubs consider themselves unique amongst all commercial organisations in spending more than they earn? Why do they believe that commonsense and business acumen are not applicable to them?

There is no excuse for any club to spend beyond their means but surely it cannot be beyond the collective power and reasoning of the authorities to realise that football is heading for the precipice, that decisive action is required to avert a catastrophe. At the very least they should be offering specialist advice and guidance before clubs are forced into the arms of the administrator.

The only action they take is to deduct points from those smaller clubs who can no longer sustain their debt levels, punishing the fans not those responsible for the maladministration. Maladministration driven by the need to survive, to compete, to bridge the ever-widening gulf between top and bottom. Driven by the desperate search for the holy grail of success and glory that will refill the dwindling coffers.

This period is likely to be remembered as a watershed for the beautiful game. Let us hope it’s not also remembered as the beginning of the end for English football.