08/09/10 - The Role Of Supporters In Football Governance, Westminster Speech

I was able to speak in the debate on the & 39;Role of football supporters in the governance of professional football clubs& 39; called for by Steve Rotheram MP.

The thrust of the debate was seeking for increasing the role of supporters in the running of their football clubs. (The main focus was on Liverpool and Manchester Utd, as the MP’s who organised the debate were supporters of these clubs).

I was fortunate enough to be able to speak, no mean fete as this was an exceptionally popular debate. 

Iraised 3 points:

• I supported the need to strengthen the ‘Fit & Proper Person’s Test’ for potential owners of football clubs as we have seen major concerns (infact I used the word & 39;disgrace& 39;!!!) with clubs such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Portsmouth and with former owners of Swindon Town FC.

• I support the principle of supporters having a representative on clubs boards, as it is right for there to be open and transparent links with the fans – it also makes commercial sense to tap into the enthusiasm and understanding of the supporters, who ultimately are the customers who dig deep to fund the club. I highlighted that in the fast I have encouraged Swindon Town FC to take this seriously, and I do recognise that the current owners are very pro-active on this front. I also praised Swindon Supermarine (wonder if this is the first time they have mentioned in Parliament) fans who rallied around in the summer when they had less than 4 weeks to successfully secure £40,000 worth of potential funding to prevent the club dropping 2 divisions.

• Finally I pointed out that not all current owners of football clubs are bad. Many of them are genuine football fans who effectively bank roll their beloved clubs for the right reasons. I highlighted the late Jack Walker of Blackburn Rovers who not only funded the club that he supported from his youth, but when he passed away left a trust fund to help safe guard the future of the club.

Footage of the debate is on: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=6560

(My bit is 1 hours, 10 minutes in – lasts about 90 seconds)