Today is Deadline Day. At 7pm BST, Europe’s footballing transfer window ends. Or “slams shut”, as we are all obligated to say. That deadline is real, but Deadline Day is a total media invention, created largely by Sky Sports. It’s instigated by FIFA, football’s world governing body, but the vibe around it is all down to the coverage – all yellow chryons, matching ties and reporters standing outside empty training facilities.
I have distinct memories of Sky Sports showing Jim White, who previously used to present the end of the window, getting ready to go on-air. Talk about believing your own hype. (The channel, not White himself.)
That was bad enough, but Transfer Twitter has made things orders of magnitude worse. The stars of this world are The Athletic‘s David Ornstein and Fabrizio “Here We Go” Romano. Both men are good journalists. Ornstein, in particular, is clearly well-sourced and reports things comprehensively. (It was he who shattered Spurs fans’ dreams by exclusively revealing that Eberechi Eze was going to arch-rivals Arsenal instead.) The whole thing has become a rather cringe joke, though. Fans compare the language used by the two, and others, to decide whether they are happy with their club or not. People follow every word they write, second by second, scared to be miss a development in the “saga” of the Belgian centre-forward they had not heard of until two weeks ago, but is now essential to their team’s success.
Sky Bet even has odds on which of Ornstein or Romano will tweet last before the window is over. Seriously.
Deadline Day And Toxic Football Culture
The abundance of rumours generates clicks and keeps people watching Sky Sports News for just that little bit longer. However, it has turned football fans into spoiled children, nagging for more, more, more. It has added to the toxicity in modern football culture. Thankfully, this is no longer about people beating each other up in the street. Instead, it is about who can get one over another online, a debate with nameless avatars over who has “won the window”. In it’s own way, it’s just as pathetic as the mindless thuggery that used to permeate football.
Fans have always wanted to know whether their team is going to sign a new star. Reporters have always want to reveal that information. But the speed and obsessive nature of the current media environment when it comes to football transfers is doing nobody any good. Journalists are exhausted trying to meet the expectations of their followers. Fans are perpetually dissatisfied. Most of the stories that float around are rubbish. What is the point?
Sky Sports has done plenty of good for football in the UK. Inventing Deadline Day was not one of them.