The Glazer Out Blog

The Select Committee – Football Governance

On Wednesday which is Wednesday the 26th, the written evidence which will be viewed and used to put forward changes for football needs to be submitted. This includes FA figures, Premier League figures, MPs, Football Owners(will the Glazers put a submission in?) from many different leagues, The Football Supporters’ Federation (confirmed to me), Supporters Direct (also confirmed to me) and other areas of football. Anyone can put evidence in but it needs to be good and relevant. It needs to be 3,000 words in length about six sides, have an abstract with bullet points and have numbers paragraphs. It can be sent can be sent to cmsev@parliament.uk send another email with your details and address. This is one of the most important dates I’ve seen in many years and while there isn’t alot of time, there is still enough time to get a submission in. If you have strong views on the subject get yours in. It might just change the cause. There will also be verbal sessions during February were certain people will be called up over 7 or so sessions. These might be the ones that get in the media and the paper. Lets hope mouth David Gill doesn’t get called up but I’d love to see Malcolm Glazer up there.

Interms of an outcome when you read those figures being reviewed it doesn’t look that promising but this is relevant to football ownership and governance. Not why we didn’t get the world cup or why England didn’t perform, as one BBC Jouno has already tried to twist it into. That is another story. I can already see certain owners in the Premier League having their own agenda, they won’t want anything to do with introducing governance or fan ownership. They’ll want something that suits themselves. Outside of that it depends what peoples views inside the FA and EPL are. They might also want nothing to do with it or they’ll again want only a certain stage of ruling put in. The EPL will say, ‘the owners are good, blah blah blah.’ As one did the other week. The richest and most powerful old crap. Tell that to Portsmouth, United and Liverpool fans. Its not the bee and end all. Where will some of the evidence for support for change come from? Surprise surprise the government for starters and also alot of MPs and other government figures. There could be some football clubs themselves such as FC United, Exeter City, AFC Wimbledon who have a say, the leaders of supporters direct and many supporters trusts. There are over 160 of these in the UK who have a great deal of knowledge. The Manchester United Supporters Trust will likely be the pick of the bunch but Portsmouth/Newcastle/Liverpool trusts will also be important. One surprise could be the Arsenal Supporters Trust. Its only very small but they are in the same position MUST were many many years ago. Currently buying small numbers of shares with support of the club. They can give their view and hopefully it will show just how weak they are. If their was a change, they wouldn’t stand much of a chance. One of the most important submissions for me could be the IMUSA document. They have faced years of abuse from the current owners and the club. They show how real owners act again their fans on match day. There is alot to go on and if you want to get your view on the subject, get it in! There is still time!