Last year the Aberdeen FC forum had a discussion post asking, “would it be a good thing for us to be relegated?”
The post received overwhelming criticism; however, it’s an interesting question. The fans were not happy with the board, the manager, or the general direction of the club at the time. Would relegation force the club to change how it does business for the better?
Let’s change ‘Aberdeen’ to ‘DC United’. Would it be good for DCU to be relegated?
A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about promotion/relegation in America; arguing for installing the system to fill MLS to 32 clubs from existing USL sides… then formally creating a pro/rel system from there.
As things stand, DCU would be relegated. Anywhere in the world, DCU would be subject to losing millions of dollars in sponsorship revenue, tv revenue, etc.. Attendance in USL would surely drop significantly.
In my last blog I wrote how DCU are trying to cover up massive holes with shiny objects. In the second division you can’t do this. Lower level clubs succeed and have passionate fan bases because of on field performance and positive relationships with their local community. DCU have neither of these right now. But they can get away with it because people will continue to go to games as long as they have big names and play other teams with big names coming to Audi Field.
Relegation would be the best thing possible for DCU. Get back to your roots.
Sometimes you have to play the ball backwards to have a meaningful effort forwards.