Alan Brazil: Football is treating supporters like dirt

ENGLISH football has been a slave to foreign money for years.

It has never been dignified.

But the staging of the League Cup Third Round draw in China – at 4.15 in the morning, UK time – marked a new low.

Talk about treating the fans like dirt!

It’s not so much the folk who support the top clubs I’m concerned about.

After all, the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal aren’t interested in the League Cup – or the Carabao Cup as it is now called – until the latter stages.

It’s fans of the lower-ranked teams I feel sorry for, because they get excited about the draw!

Think about the Burton Albion punters.

Their reward for reaching the Third Round was a trip to Old Trafford.

But how many of them experienced the joy of watching their team come out of the hat?

I bet the answer is none – and that’s a disgrace.

I’ve been saying for ages that the game in England is teetering on the edge of a slippery slope when it comes to foreign cash.

Now it is hurtling towards a point of no return.

Make no mistake, moving the League Cup draw to China is an enormous step towards moving the whole tournament there.

Think about it.

For years, interest has been dwindling in this once terrific tournament, particularly amongst fans of Premier League clubs.

That has led to today’s League Cup being seen as a devalued competition, which leads to even less interest.

It’s a death spiral.

So what do the EFL do? Simple – seek sponsorship from abroad and try to whip up interest outside England.

They started off by taking cash from a Thai energy drink company in Carabao.

Now they have followed it up by staging draws abroad – the First Round was pulled in Bangkok before the most recent in China.

So what’s next? Logically, it seems that matches must follow.

On the money side, that makes perfect sense. Clubs – and the EFL – will coin it in.

But for me it would be yet another example of football in England being ripped away from the people who are its beating heart – the fans.

And what about Scotland?

English clubs already have an enormous financial advantage over our top teams.

Celtic and Rangers are miles behind. For the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs, the gap is light years-wide. The last thing the Scottish game needs is for our nearest neighbours to stretch even further ahead.

We all know it’s wrong, but us Scots can’t help comparing our game to the one from down south we watch on TV.

As it stands, it’s already like comparing apples and oranges.

If English clubs rake in another fortune from staging League Cup games abroad, it’ll be more like apples and beluga caviar.

As I said, it’s a slippery slope.

If the League Cup goes, it’s a matter of time until a Premier League game goes.

From there, who knows?

The only thing I’m sure about is that, once again, the fans are getting short-changed while clubs rake it in.