I've always liked football. Maybe it was the excitement of a goal, the war dances performed by managers on the sidelines, maybe the hope that the camera might zoom onto Thierry Henry... It doesn't really matter what my reasons are. The fact is that I have liked the "Beautiful Game" for as long as I can remember. So why then, on a Saturday evening, do I now flick the television to a film or a tennis match?

At the age of eight, everything is good. Even the stalest goalless draw captures you; just watching the ball fly through the air is entertainment enough. Now, I'm twice the age, and half as easy to please. I want to see the local Liverpool boys battle with Chelsea or Arsenal to gain pride for the town. It's very disappointing when you actually look at who is on the field and discover that there are two English players on the pitch.

I'm not against foreign players at all. Adding one or two world-class international players to a team encourages the whole team to improve. There is a limit as to how far you should go. I remember reading the newspaper a year or so ago. On half a page was a picture of a football team, Arsenal. Nothing special, you might say, but this team signalled a landmark in Premiership history - this team had no players from England at all. None. Even the manager wasn't English. I'm sure that they plan an excellent game, but arranging teams like that cannot be any good for English football. It's showing already - England is struggling in its battle to progress in the World Cup.

Another thing that has turned me away from the "Beautiful Game" is money. Football used to be a sport, now it is full of sickeningly rich managers and even richer players. Any one of the big names - Owen, Rooney, Shearer - probably earns more in one game than most people earn in months, even in a year.

It's not just the players' wages that are the problem. The cost of a ticket to see a game has skyrocketed over the years. In America, you can buy a luxury seat in a prime location for a baseball game for about half as much has it would cost to get a seat in a small Premiership club. That's not fair. It raises questions that need to be asked.

My dad was right when he said things aren't how they used to be. Premiership football has mutated into a sport tainted with the memories of violence, bad language and general bad behaviour. WE have lost what the game really means. We have lost our chance to nurture homegrown talent and watch them flourish on home turf. If something isn't done soon, we will lose our Premiership, and we will lose a part of our English heritage.