Bournemouth chairman says ‘we shouldn’t play Premier League games in other countries’

The American made his stance clear

It is the double-edged sword of modern football that has brought so much money and success into the game, but often at the cost of its soul as bosses look to exploit the game by any means possible.

This has led to growing rumours in recent years that Premier League matches could be played all around the world, with the United States often touted as a potential destination.

For football fans in England this could quite literally break the sport and would certainly damage the trust between the league and fans who spend so much already to follow their team.

However the American chairman of AFC Bournemouth, Bill Foley, has spoken out against this notion as he said in an interview with Sky Sports that, "we really shouldn't be playing games in the United States or in other countries.

"The traditions here are so strong and so important," the 79-year-old from Austin, Texas said.

He added: "We need to play them here in front of our fans, I'm committee to that.

"I don't know how many people want to play in America, Premier League games, but I'm not one of them."

These comments from the American have made him suddenly very popular among fans who took to X (Formerly Twitter) to sing his praises.

One person said: "Fairs, for an American to say that is refreshing. The premier league belongs in England and not on some roadshow."

Another user wrote: "Love this!!! Serves no purpose other than to generate revenue and upset the true fans!!"

Meanwhile one Bournemouth fan said: "We love him here. Says all the right things. Puts his money where his mouth is. Buying up top European and British talent. Building a brand new state of the art training facility and a new stadium planned."

Despite the increasingly popular idea of playing domestic football matches elsewhere on the world stage, it has already happened with La Liga having a keen interest in the concept having already planned to host Barcelona against Girona in Miami back in 2019.

This ultimately never materialised, but the idea has been revived by bosses and they even have case studies to plan around.

In four out of the last five years, the Spanish Super Cup mini tournament has been played in Saudi Arabia while since 2022 the same has been the case for the Italian version of the competition.

This has understandably led to plenty of backlash, however, for one of the smallest trophies in football, league officials can get away with it.

That said if the Community Shield was ever played away from England, plenty of fans would surely have something to say about it!