The Premier League Trickles Down. Slowly.

English football is the richest the sport has ever been. It is also, at its base, running on bake sales and second-hand goalposts. Both things are true at once, and the distance between them is the story nobody at the top wants to dwell on.

Money does flow down — through facility funds, foundations and the occasional grant. But it flows slowly, unevenly, and wrapped in enough paperwork to deter the volunteer-run clubs that need it most. The trickle reaches the park eventually. The park, meanwhile, is the reason the whole pyramid stands up.

A healthier sport would treat its base less like a charity case and more like the foundation it literally is. Until then, the contrast holds: billions on the television, and a coach asking the WhatsApp group if anyone has a spare net.