Parliamentary study released
Survey highlights unpopularity of FA
A long-awaited All Party Football Group survey was released yesterday. The APFG - which aims to raise parliamentary awareness on all levels of football policy - announced the results from their survey on football and its finances.
In reviewing the main points, Alan Keen MP - the group’s chairman - said:
“We were surprised that the clubs below the Premiership, where we would expect stronger loyalty to the FA, when asked about whether football needed to be regulated more, 50% said they would favour an independent regulator and only 49% favoured the FA. That’s a figure that may well have changed since February when we did the survey.”
Fellow group member Lord Faulkner added:
“It was surprising because the survey found there was concern at how it was run. The FA have one last chance to get it right.”
Other results from the survey found that lower-league clubs wanted more money from television revenue and a form of regulation for players’ agents.
Mr Keen stated:
“There were some surprising results and one or two that were not. Everyone will be slightly surprised that the majority of clubs were against the football debts rule - whereby football debts to players are paid before the cleaners and the tea lady when (the club are) in receivership. What was not surprising was 87% of the clubs said they were against clubs being able to move away from their communities. Wimbledon to Milton Keynes is the well-known example. It wasn’t surprising that clubs below the Premiership agreed that the Premiership should give 5% more of their television money to help clubs in lower divisions. Clubs thought the Government were not giving enough money to grassroots football. This survey shows very strongly that clubs below the Premiership are strongly in favour of regulation of agents. Up to 90% want regulation and want money back from agents by a levy or whatever means.”
A life-long Middlesbrough supporter, Mr Keen concluded:
“It’s not us who will change football. It’s the authorities who have to make those decisions, listening to the views we have gathered together.”
For more information, vist All Party Football
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