There are two articles from Owen Gibson about football club ownership on
the Guardian website today
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/28/government-plan-football-clubs-fans
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/28/football-reforms-fans-buy-clubs
plus a comment piece by David Cohn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/mar/29/football-reforms-labour-fans
Those of you with plenty of time on your hands can read them at your
leisure however for those of us with a deadline on the weekly wash to
meet here's my quick take:
* Gordon Brown is looking for what he sees as populist policies to
present at the next election (even though he claims to have been at this
issue for some time now)
* The Glazer/Pompey issue has brought the situation to a head (no
mention of Chester or Farsley Celtic then?)
* Brown wants to see the dysfunctional structure of the FA sorted
(epitomised by the recent resignation of FA CEO, Ian Whatmore)
* Brown wants the football authorities to remove "vested interests" from
their boards and to streamline decision making (it was those vested
interests that frustrated Whatmore at the FA)
* Brown wants to see clubs handing over a 25% stake to fans in
recognition of their links with their local community (maybe only 5% in
the case of Franchise FC)
* A new "changeover" clause which would allow breathing space for fans
to put together a takeover case if their club goes in to administration
or is up for sale (as we know Bates is always willing to sell at Bates'
prices so Leeds is technically up for sale - bring it on!)
* Perhaps the biggest issue is the legality of giving fans a chance to
shape the ownership of the club at a price set by an external
independent auditor. (In Scotland this can already happen when land or
its associated assetts are put up for sale and a "Community Buyout" is
triggered by a local ballot so laws can be fashioned to meet this
situation head on)
Any test of this proposed policy however will only be met if it remains
high on the Labour Party's agenda. There are those of us who regret
that the government had not done all this already during 13 years in power.
If it does come about I wonder if they'll paint the town of Raith red
one night?
Betty
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