An awkward conversation with Real Betis’ Hector Bellerin – on climate, elitism and why more players don’t speak out

“Football, with every passing day is more about the margins, about where can we make more money, and less about the people that support it, and the people that make football truly great. It’s becoming more elitist every day,” says Hector Bellerin, with calm conviction.

“It’s definitely hard to see the game drift away from some of the reasons that made you love it. I just finished reading Fever Pitch from Nick Hornby, a book I wanted to read for a long time to see how football was for fans then, and how they lived it. And he finished writing that back in 1991, and already from then, you see a huge difference with all of these different competitions and decisions that are clearly being taken just for margins and money, you see how much it is drifting away from what it once was.”

It feels pretty telling that within the half hour we have with Bellerin, he is asked just once about what he’s doing on the pitch, rather than his actions off it, or what he thinks of the general direction of the game. It’s not that Bellerin doesn’t have a wide variety of football experiences to fill a book or two himself; Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, winning a Copa del Rey on penalties with Real Betis, beating Arsenal with Sporting CP, being part of what looks like Xavi Hernandez’s only La Liga title. And yet everyone seems satisfied with their answers. It’s just you don’t normally get someone of his stature who is as cogent and willing to address topics that generally send press officers scuttling for safety.

Real Betis are perfectly happy to put Bellerin up. Questions that might be sharp-edged for someone else, topics often perceived as treacherous for a footballer, he navigates with sufficient ease to make you forget who he is.

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