Great teams who enjoy sustained periods of dominance will often have mythologies attached to their supremacy.

So it is that we still think of Anfield’s famed Kop, during Liverpool’s heyday in the Seventies, as having the ability to suck the ball into the goal, so great was their noise and passion.

So it is that we firmly believed that Manchester United always scored late-on when behind, in a final chapter of games that became universally known as ‘Fergie-time’.

During that same highly successful era for the Red Devils however - one that saw Sir Alex Ferguson locking horns with Arsene Wenger, as his side otherwise ran rampant over the rest of English football – poetic license was pushed to the very margins of credulity while elsewhere the rest of English football cringed right down to our bones.

It was during this period that Old Trafford gained the epithet of the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.

This fanciful description was first coined by Sir Bobby Charlton in a book published in 1987 and if anyone has earned the right to wax lyrical about the prominent ground it is surely United’s greatest ever player.

Unfortunately, the term took off and swiftly gained a life of its own and here we encounter a problem that doesn’t apply to the other mythologies mentioned above, that were very much of their time.

No longer does the Kop draw a collective, great breath with the stand all-seated and subsequently calmed, if only a bit. No longer do United score so often in ‘Fergie-time’ with the man from Govan long retired from intimidating his players into attacking to the very end.

Yet the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ stuck, increasingly being used through the Nineties and 2000s as the Reds began every fixture as nailed-on favourites in the sports betting and still used now, when they are not even included in our Champions League betting offers.

They’re not included because last season for a fifth time since Sir Alex hung up his overcoat, United finished outside of the top four.

 

Subsequently, each and every year, it is a grandiose term that feels more and more ironic. Sarcastic, even.

Because gone now is the fear factor that was so prevalent on the pitch for nigh-on two decades and gone now too is the imposing aura of the stadium itself, that is in desperate need of redevelopment.

For a club of Manchester United’s global standing to have a home with a leaking roof – in the Sir Bobby Charlton stand of all places – is frankly, an embarrassment. The Theatre of streams anyone?

This season, under the governance of new boss Erik Ten Hag, a top four spot might well be secured and it is entirely feasible that the Dutch coach incrementally turns things around at Old Trafford.

But this is still a club that has only won 50% of its league games at home across the last two campaigns.

This is still a club that have been beaten 6-1 twice in recent years on home soil, as well as being schooled 5-0 by arch-rivals Liverpool. This is still a club that is weighed down by their illustrious past.

It is no longer the theatre of any dreams. Rather, it’s all been the stuff of nightmares. 

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It is not at all subjective to state that Pep Guardiola has conceived and created a fabulous football team in Manchester City, one that has come to dominate the domestic landscape.

With arguably the top-flight’s finest talent Kevin De Bruyne conjuring up magic on a weekly basis, the Blues have won silverware in abundance in recent seasons and according to our latest Premier League betting odds, are strongly fancied to again claim a league crown. It would be their fifth in six years.

What a shame it is therefore that so few spectators get to enjoy this supernatural football, that is typically played out in front of a half-empty Etihad Stadium.

That is, at least, the mischievous trope that regularly does the rounds on social media and beyond.

In 2020, the font of footballing knowledge that is Talksport’s Jamie O’Hara insisted that City had become too big for their die-hard fanbase, resulting in the club being unable to fill its ground.

Twelve months later, Jamie Carragher visibly scoffed on-air at the inclusion of City during a discussion about the best atmospheres for European nights. “The Emptihad?” was his incredulous response.

Soon after, to demonstrate how this fallacy has seeped into the national subconscious, Jim Beglin got into hot water after accidentally using the tired old jibe when referring to City’s ground during commentary.

And if this salacious hot-take is prevalent among the pundits and journalists it is alas ten-fold on Twitter, with ‘Emptihad’ thrown about aimlessly and daily.

Adhering to the platform’s unwritten code that if something cannot be proven it must be said especially loud, attendance counters routinely post photos of a cluster of blue seats as a ‘gotcha’ moment.

That it’s often a still of a half-deserted stand taken a good half-hour before kick-off doesn’t appear to matter, the same disregard for logic applying when pictures of the away end are put up.

When the club offer up discounted tickets meanwhile for local schools, it prompts an armageddon of banter.

What a shame it is therefore to acknowledge that this whole trope is nothing more than rumour and nonsense.

Across the 2019/20 campaign, City’s Etihad Stadium – that holds 55,097, making it the fifth-biggest ground in the country – was full to 98.6% of its capacity.

In comparison, Liverpool’s Anfield managed 98.3%. That’s right, over ten long months of a season, Anfield was fractionally less populated than the Etihad.

Bringing it up to the present we find that average dipped last season but perhaps this is not so surprising from a fan-base that is predominantly working class as we strive to get through a post-pandemic age. It was still however an average that trumped Chelsea by 6.7%.

To be clear, these are numbers pertaining not to how many fans attended but how full the ground was week in, week out. These are figures that comprehensively and conclusively show that the ‘Emptihad’ charge is a myth.

As too is the jibe’s little cousin, the allusion aired by visiting supporters that all those present are glory-hunters, new to the party. Where were you when you were rubbish, they sing, or words to that effect but again, the facts speak for themselves.

Languishing in the third-tier in the late-Nineties, an average crowd of 30,251 used to turn up at the club’s former home Maine Road to cheer them on against Lincoln, Macclesfield and the like.

That’s a phenomenal amount in the circumstances. Indeed, it’s a collective loyalty shown through terrible times that used to be widely associated with the club’s fans. Until the club got good that is.

In 2004/05 City enjoyed the third highest attendances in the Premier League, over and above Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea. That was four years prior to their transformative takeover.

The online betting has City down as favourites to clean up this season and, disproving a nonsensical fabrication, close to 55,000 will be there July to May to watch their supernatural football.

In short, the ‘Emptihad’ jibe is erroneous, put about by those who are desperate to find any stick to beat the Blues with. Don’t believe the hype.

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Former Watford striker Troy Deeney is no longer a key factor in Premier League relegation odds.

Off-field issues blighted the early years of Deeney’s professional career, scuppering a chance at Aston Villa’s academy and even leading to a prison sentence in 2012.

He worked his way through non-league football with Chelmsley Town to earn a shot with Walsall before joining Watford in 2006.

Ultimately becoming a talismanic figure for the Hornets, Deeney was integral as the club returned to the topflight, and he was again an important member of the squad when they bounced back after relegation in 2020-21.

It might surprise some who bet on football that Deeney remains uncapped. He was touted for an England call-up on numerous occasions, but that opportunity never arrived, and he turned down a couple of approaches to play for Jamaica.

Let’s learn a bit more about Deeney, starting with his net worth.

Net Worth

Estimations of Troy Deeney net worth vary greatly.

While never featuring for the teams at the top of Premier League predictions, the target man was still rewarded with a hefty salary during his time in the Premier League with Watford.

Some sites claim Deeney has a net worth of over £15 million, while others come in around the £3 million mark.

In truth, it’s impossible to get an exact figure, and there’s a limited amount known about how Deeney has spent his cash over the years.

Salary

Troy Deeney’s salary was over £3,000,000 per year towards the end of his Watford stint, working out at north of £60,000 per week.

This might be a small figure compared to some Premier League wages, but Deeney was still pocketing more per week than the average annual salary in the UK.

When he swapped the yellow of Watford for the blue of Birmingham, salary information was harder to come by.

Sliding to a Championship team meant a pay cut, of course, and it was a sizeable decrease in wages according to Deeney’s former manager, Lee Bowyer.

Soon after Deeney signed at St. Andrew’s, Bowyer said, “The player deserves a lot of credit because he has taken a big wage cut to come here, and people won’t realise. He wants to play for this club, and improve it.

"Craig, and the chairman, with his backing, have done exceptionally well to bring in someone of his stature. As the head coach, I am grateful to all of them.”

A column for The Sun and appearances on TalkSport are bound to have supplemented Deeney’s wage in recent times.

Like many players, he has begun to take on media work even before calling it a day on the pitch, and it seems like we can expect to hear a lot more from the ex-Watford man once he hangs up his boots.

Goal vs Leicester

The Playoffs are notoriously dramatic, but no one has stunned Championship predictions quite like Troy Deeney against Leicester in 2013. It is the stuff of legend in Watford and beyond.

The score was 2-2 on aggregate, with Watford 2-1 up on the day. Leicester had a penalty in the dying seconds, seemingly set to secure their place in the playoff final. Not so fast.

Anthony Knockaert took a stinker of a penalty against Manuel Almunia. The former Arsenal goalkeeper saved with his legs before rejecting Knockaert’s effort from the rebound.

After a scramble from the Hornets to clear their lines, the ball ended up with Fernando Forestieri on the right flank.

Next up, Jonathan Hogg knocked the ball into the box, which ultimately fell to Deeney. Coming off 19 goals in the league that term, he thundered the ball past a helpless Kasper Schmeichel, sending Watford, and a packed crowd, into pandemonium.

Fans swarmed onto the pitch, and the commentary will live long in the memory for fans around the country.

 

Johnny Phillips, trying to convey the drama on Sky Sports News to an audience who couldn’t see the mayhem, lost it live on air. Bill Leslie was slightly calmer, albeit without the pressure of having to actually explain what was going on.

Leslie nailed the accompanying audio for such a spectacular moment.

"Knockaert takes, Almunia saves. Knockaert follows in, Almunia saves again. Absolutely astonishing!

"Now here come Watford. Forestieri, here’s Hogg... DDDDEEEEEENNNNNEEEEEEEEYYYYY!!!!

"Do not scratch your eyes, you are really seeing the most extraordinary end to a football match!"

Deeney spoke about what that goal means to him back in 2020.

"For me, remember, that was the year I came out of jail. While it was a good year in terms of football, it was also a bad year in terms of my home life. So it just always reminds me of that.

"It’s kind of my [Sergio] Aguero moment, but I have to learn to live with it. That’s the one that everyone remembers.

"When I see it, I do appreciate it for what it is, but it’s just the psychological backdrop of me going ‘ah, that’s not kind of what I wanted to be my defining moment."

Documentary

Troy Deeney released a documentary in May 2022 entitled ‘Where’s My History?’.

The documentary looks at the teaching (or lack of) of the experiences and history of black, Asian and ethnic minorities.

Deeney spoke to the BBC about teachers being wary of talking about racism, and noted how the curriculum has developed in other areas.

"That is where the world has moved to, where coding is part of schooling, yet we're still so far behind in our narrative of how black and Asian people are represented in the schooling curriculum.”

Deeney also discussed his own experiences at school, and how limited the teaching of history is.

"When we're in school, and we are maybe one or two of the black kids... and you're watching Roots, and everyone in that class turns round and looks at you, like 'Is that you? Is that your uncle? Is that your dad?'

"Like you're expected to understand that, and it's really difficult to understand if you've never been in that situation but... you're taught that that's all you can become.

"That's the best you can see. Unless you do music, because we'll teach you about Bob Marley, unless you do football, because we'll show you about Ian Wright, unless you do athletics, because we'll show you about Linford Christie, other than that you don't see anything that is about empowering.

"You don't see anything about young black women in science for example. I've got two daughters and we don't see anything about women in the time period."

The documentary is available to watch on All 4.

Forest Green Rovers

Troy Deeney signed with Forest Green Rovers as a player-coach in August 2023. When the club's manager was sacked in December of the same year, Deeney took on the responsibility of being player-manager.

Publicly criticising his squad -- and comparing their performances to Antiques Roadshow -- Deeney's foray into management didn't work out. He was handed a touchline ban and fine for his conduct, and failed to win any of his six matches before being sacked. 

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