Agreed. When I used to go to games I'd marvel at the queues of people at the Armoury with arm-fulls of Arsenal merch, just lining up to part with their cash.
When I first started going there was a little shop by the Clock End and that was it.
I've been fairly consistent in criticising greed, IMO it really stepped up a gear with Sky and the PL. They promised a "whole new ball game" and boy did they deliver. It's pretty much directly led us to where we are today, via a lot of the steps you identified.
In brief:![]()