Football Governance: Written evidence 1 House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee Football Governance Written Evidence – at 28 March 2011 2 Football Governance: Written evidence Index of written evidence Page Mrs Linsey Wraith (FG 01) 4 Carlos Diaz-Sanchez (FG 02) 4 Steve Lawrence (FG 03) 6 Peter Hodge (FG 04) 15 Jay Cochrane, The International Football Development Academy (iFDA) (FG 05) 21 Saints Trust Consumer Cooperative Action Committee (FG 06) 23 Exeter City AFC Supporters Society Ltd (FG 07) 25 Runcorn Linnets Football Club (FG 08) 32 Gary Pettit (FG 09) 37 Rob Bradley and Roy Noble, Lincoln City Supporters Trust (FG 10) 43 Commission on the Future of Women’s Sport (FG 11) 44 Cardiff City Supporters Trust (FG 12) 45 Andy Green (FG 13) 48 Cambridge Fans United (CFU) (FG 14) 55 James Wheeler (FG 15) 59 Paul Norris (FG 16) 64 Manchester United Supporter Trust (MUST) (FG 17) 71 Football Foundation (FG 19) 74 Liverpool Supporters’ Union – Spirit of Shankly (FG 20) 76 Steve Beck, York City Supporters Trust (FG 21) 80 Keith Blagbrough (FG 22) 83 Clarets Trust (FG 23) 88 Dr. Malcolm Clarke, FRSA, supporter representative on the FA Council (FG 24) 92 Merthyr Town FC (FG 25) 96 Arsenal Supporters’ Trust and Arsenal Fanshare (FG 26) 101 Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive, Professional Footballers Association (FG 27) 107 Wimbledon Football Club Supporters Society Limited on behalf of 111 AFC Wimbledon (FG 28) Professor Richard Giulianotti (FG 29) 117 Bristol City Supporters Trust (FG 30) 123 Bees United, the Brentford FC Supporters Trust (FG 31) 128 Football Association (The FA) (FG 32) 134 Premier League (FG 33) 141 Independent Manchester United Supporters’ Association (IMUSA) (FG 34) 159 Supporters Direct (FG 35) 162 Newcastle United Supporters Trust (FG 36) 170 Football Supporters’ Federation (FG 37) 174 League Managers Association (FG 38) 182 Fulham Supporters’ Trust (FG 39) 188 Department for Culture, Media and Sport (FG 40) 193 Football League (FG 41) 197 Reading Football Supporters’ Society Limited T/A ‘STAR’ 206 (Supporters’ Trust at Reading) (FG 42) Blake Welton, Editor, First e11even (FG 43) 211 Southend United Supporters’ Club Trust t/as The Shrimpers Trust (FG 44) 222 Football Governance: Written evidence 3 David Hodges (FG 45) 228 Bradford City Supporters’ Trust (BCST) (FG 46) 232 Phil Gregory (FG 47) 237 Wrexham Supporters Trust (FG 48) 247 Blue and Gold Trust (King’s Lynn FC Supporters Trust (FG 49) 254 Foxes Trust (Leicester City Supporters Society Limited) (FG 50) 257 AFC Telford United (FG 51) 259 Daniel York and Ben Westmancott on behalf of the board of Fisher FC (FG 52) 266 Adam Franks FCA CFA (FG 53) 271 Schwery Consulting (FG 54) 277 FC United of Manchester (FG 55) 282 Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) (FG 56) 285 Olswang (FG 57) 290 National Association of Disabled Supporters (NADS) (FG 58) 299 Paul Baggaley, Chairman, Newark Town FC (FG 59) 305 Chester Football Club (FG 60) 308 Stephen Temple (FG 61) 313 Centre for the Study of Law, Society and Popular Culture, 319 University of Westminster (FG 62) Dave Boyle (FG 63) 323 Scarborough Athletic Football Club (FG 64) 329 Yorkshire Division of the Football Supporters’ Federation (FG 65) 333 Professional Players Federation (FG 66) 338 Darlington Supporters Trust (FG 67) 340 Jonathan Keen (FG 68) 345 Dr John Beech, Head of Sport & Tourism, Applied Research Centre for Sustainable Regeneration, Coventry University (FG 69) 352 Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) (FG 70) 358 John Bentley (FG 71) 364 Rick Duniec (FG 72) 367 Professor Stefan Szymanski (FG 73) 370 Pompey Supporters’ Trust (FG 74) 381 Football Licensing Authority (FG 75) 386 Swansea City Supporters Trust (FG 76) 390 Co-operatives UK (FG 77) 395 Vince Cullen (FG 78) 399 Cambridge City Supporters Trust (FG 79) 404 Hendon Football Club Supporters Trust (FG 80) 407 Mark Usher (FG 81) 411 Hamburger SV Supporters' Club (FG 82) 423 Mr Sean Hamil & Dr Geoff Walters, Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, 427 Birkbeck College, University of London (FG 83) Christian Müller (FG 84) 436 Substance (FG 85) 441 The Football Conference 448 Lord Triesman 455 The Isthmian Football League 479 UEFA 489 Ian Watmore 495 4 Football Governance: Written evidence Written evidence submitted by Mrs Linsey Wraith (FG 01) I doubt very much whether my input will be of any relevance, however I feel so strongly about this subject, I feel compelled to submit my opinion. As the mother of four sons, our household centres around the subject of English football, albeit in the main Newcastle Utd. In this week when I have been asked to explain the actions of both Fifa, and the owner's actions of Newcastle Utd i.e an apparent owner's whim, in terms of fair play and morality, I am left speechless. When even the Government seems hell bent against sport in schools, what explanation am I to give my sons? The whole English game, without Fifa, has lost its way - it is no longer a 'national' game but a preserve of the rich, and wholly unsuitable owners. Who will stand up any longer for real sport, and real and proper owners? Opinions of real fans, and real voters, are irrelevant against the profit pound it appears yet again. December 2010 Written evidence submitted by Carlos Diaz-Sanchez (FG 02) To whom it may concern, I currently volunteer in the community by running a local junior Under 14’s football team. I am very passionate about grassroots football and the development of our footballers, who will become the next generation of home-grown players. Having played junior football for a number of years, and entering in to coaching soon after, I have a great level of experience in this field and believe that I have a number of suggestions that would be beneficial to the way we conduct the development of footballers in this country. Firstly, I believe that the government should set up committees of volunteers, like myself, to address the failing standards of development for our young footballers. I am currently in my second year of A level studies and it is this youthful approach that parents and clubs are desperate for when searching for coaches. The FA is working hard in this area, but unfortunately all too often it is a case of centralised directives that are difficult to put in to practice and often characterised by bureaucracy. This government was elected, partly, on the basis of devolution of power to communities; it is people who actually work in grassroots football, who brave the cold on winter mornings and who collect subs money, that recognise the fundamental changes that need to be made and I believe the government and the FA should make better use of this advice. Furthermore, the provision of facilities is crucial to raising the standards of our development. My father is Spanish, and on my regular visits to Spain, I visit their facilities in both awe and envy; the quality of the training pitches that the aspiring footballer use are phenomenal. A great emphasis has been placed on providing conditions to encourage the technical development of the young footballers, rather than focusing on the winning mentality. The facilities they provide is linked to the style of coaching; as previously mentioned, technical ability is the primary focus of their development, and the governing body has ensured that the conditions are perfect for the young players to thrive. Despite a great charitable effort in terms of financial grants, the UK still has a long way to go before the facilities they provide are in line with those on the continent. My key concern is the standard of school football. When my father’s generation were growing up, school football was the most important element of their football development. It is an Football Governance: Written evidence 5 unfortunate, but truthful, fact that school football has been marginalised in recent years, partly as a result of central directives to ensure that everybody is given opportunities to play, regardless of their ability. I believe school football is something that needs to be saved; it is under threat of becoming obsolete. I know from coaching Sunday League football that my players, at the age of 14, which should be the height of their school football, are disillusioned and disinterested. I know from recent experience, having played for both my school and my local club, the latter at a particularly high level, that the standard in school football was, frankly, disgraceful. I believe there needs to be a radical overhaul of school football; too much responsibility lies with P.E teachers, overburdened with a range of extra-curricular sports in addition to their professional duties. In truth, many of these teachers are not capable of delivering the standard of coaching that school football requires and deserves. My solution to the problem would be to adopt a similar system as in the United States schools with regards to their football and basketball. This would involve schools employing professional coaches to work on a full time basis to be responsible for the management of the football sides. I recognise that in the current economic climate, that this is perhaps not practical. However, it should be a long term goal for the government to pursue; it would raise standards throughout the country and generate great social benefits. The coaches would act as mentors to some of the most disillusioned pupils, who see football as their only opportunity in life. The England 2018 bid team adopted this theme, and I believed it to be the most convincing of all the factors of the bid; football is a tool to promote social cohesion and provide opportunities for those who would otherwise become involved in a poor lifestyle.