http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchesterunite d/s/228/228225_put_fair_back_into_football.html
Wednesday, 15th November 2006 Put 'fair' back into football Stuart Brennan UNITED fans are spearheading a new campaign to share out football's riches to make the Premiership a fairer competition. The Independent Manchester United Supporters Association is to press the Government to force changes on the football authorities and ensure a level playing field for the game's poorer clubs. Their "Reclaim the Game" campaign will urge a return to the days when gate money was shared out with the away club, call for a more equitable distribution of television cash, and ask for a ban on businessmen who take money out of the game. IMUSA have begun by joining forces with supporters' groups at other north west clubs, but hope the campaign will go nationwide. United are the single biggest beneficiaries of the rule changes which allow home clubs to pocket all of their own gate money - but IMUSA says change is needed to avoid the growing predictability of domestic football. Says IMUSA spokesman Colin Hendrie: "The Premiership is more or less meaningless for three-quarters of the league these days and money is a far bigger influence on the destiny of the title than football prowess or skill. Financial clout "Football has to ask itself if we are really interested in a competition based on financial clout rather than how good our team is. "The statistics are that only four teams have won the Premier League in its 14-year history, and that is all down to the changes the FA allowed in the 1980s. "For 100 years the FA had done a wonderful job looking after our game and making sure the Corinthian spirit was more important than making money. "But in the 80s they changed the rules and those changes have led to the imbalance we have now." IMUSA say that the two big changes which have led to today's lop- sided situation were the decision to allow clubs to keep all gate receipts from all of their home matches and the abandonment of the FA's rule 34 which forbade businessmen involved in football from talking money out of the game. The campaign is sure to meet with resistance from some fans of big clubs - including United - who have enjoyed the fact that their clubs' superior wealth has allowed them to become dominant forces in English and European football. But Hendrie says: "Any United fan would be prouder to win the title every 26 years than they would to keep winning a meaningless competition in which only two or three other teams stand a realistic chance." Radical IMUSA is hoping that supporters of all clubs will get behind their bid to press the Government to take a hand and force a radical overhaul of the "rich man, poor man" situation in English football. The Premier League pointed out that gate-sharing had been ditched by the Football League in 1982, although it continues in domestic cup competitions and claim that the practice of keeping gate receipts has had substantial benefits. "The incentive has been there for clubs to invest in their stadia as Manchester United and several others have done," said a spokesman. "We maybe wouldn't have such fantastic arenas as Old Trafford or St James' Park if gate-sharing still existed. "In terms of television money, we are the most re-distributive league in Europe with 50 per cent of the money from domestic TV rights and 100 per cent from overseas rights being split fairly between clubs. "As far as money to the Football League goes, they get large amounts." Please use [email protected] for general discussion. To unsubscribe send a blank message (from the email account in question) to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Join as a full member of IMUSA today: http://www.imusa.org/join.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imusa/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/imusa/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
