Fair play to Jeff Stelling for his rant on Saturday regarding the refusal of the ‘authorities’ (whoever they are) to delay kick off at the Emirates so that thousands of Newcastle fans caught on delayed trains could make the match. Jeff angrily pointed out just how far things have slipped again since the darkest days of ground closures when the powers that be proclaimed to have realised that it’s all about the fans. They clearly haven’t. In fact, if they had, then Newcastle wouldn’t have been kicking off in London at 12:30 in the first place. A quick look at the trainline site suggests a latest possible departure at 06:40 to make that feasible, even if the train is bang-on time. Less pleasing than Jeff’s rant, the response of his studio-mates, who just seemed to find the whole thing hilarious, giggling away in the background.
Closer to home, a Friday night fixture at WBA for Forest was hardly helpful either with (scheduled) disruption to tram services in the West Midlands and a timetable that rendered public transport back to Nottingham virtually impossible, echoing the rail and road problems travelling Trickies had getting back from QPR on a Friday only last month.
Nothing has changed and, in reality, few people probably really expected anything concrete to come from the platitudes. Fans have been little more than cash cows for decades now. In which case, we should probably be welcoming the publication of the Independent Fan Led Review, headed up by MP Tracey Crouch. A read of Crouch’s July 22nd letter to Oliver Dowden, Sec of State for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport, suggests someone who ‘gets it’. Crouch understands that “football clubs are not ordinary businesses. They play a critical social, civic and cultural role in their local communities.” She also states that “fans are a strength… that should be cherished and nurtured.”
The landmark recommendation of her report is for an independent regulator for the game. No surprise to know that the Premier League oppose this, but it is they who have brought it on. Crouch celebrates the successes of the Premier league as a ‘brand’, but makes very clear the staggering inequalities it has created. The inequalities, of course, being the whole point of the Premier League in the first place - an attempt to keep as much money as possible amongst the top clubs. A graph on p28 shows the 2018-19 income of clubs: towering above all others, the four that played in the Champions League (average £444million). Down in the Championship, that average is £20million. Crouch also gets the distorting effects of parachute payments, which that year gave relegated clubs an average income of £52million, thus horribly skewing the Championship as a competition.
Top clubs have ceased to be venerable old Victorian institutions, rooted in their communities, but global brands to be traded and cashed-in on by speculators. And it often doesn’t work out well. Sunderland, Coventry, Wimbledon, Bradford, Derby and Sheffield Wednesday were all in the original group of clubs that rejected reforms suggested by a previous review in 1999. Crouch also notes that the Deloitte Review of Football Finance in 2020 showed nine Premier league clubs operating at a pre-tax loss and eight with a dangerous (70%+) wage to revenue ratio. In the Championship, it’s worse still. Only two (pre tax) profitable clubs, average wage to revenue of a crippling 107% and average annual operating losses of £16million. This is all clearly unsustainable and there will be more victims in terms of clubs ‘going under’.
The review calls for fairer sharing, enforced by the Independent Regulator if clubs do not comply. Parachute payments are singled out for review As a cause of some of the inequality and volatile finances: “I am in no doubt they distort competition and drive unsustainable financial activity,” she states.
As well as finance, Crouch voices concerns over heritage and cultural aspects of the game. She primarily highlights the impact of clubs losing their homes, but also recognises the importance of club colours, badges, location and the history of major competitions. The radical suggestion to protect these aspects is a ‘golden share’ for fans, giving veto over changes in these key areas, the right to be held by a legally recognised, properly constituted fan group. Alongside this, she proposes expansion of the rights to buy shares. This begins to look like some of the more admirable aspects of the German model. Bayern’s AGM got a bit feisty last week with fan groups using their power to force through an amendment to the club constitution, against the wishes of the board, that heed should be paid to human rights and that all efforts should be made to end or taper involvement with Qatar. Closer to home, Liverpool fan group Spirit of Shankly would appear to have come to an agreement with club owners Fenway Sports Group that fans would have the right of veto on any moves to join a European Super League. These talks also look likely to result in a new supporters board, representing diverse fan groups and to include fans in key decisions such as leaving Anfield or other ground development - effectively Crouch’s proposed Golden Share.
At Forest, there is the Supporters‘ Trust, a democratic non-profit organisation, with the stated aims of “help fans join together and strengthen their collective influence over the way the club is run.” The Trust meets club representatives regularly and in a meeting in October was assured by CEO Dane Murphy that fan engagement was key to the way he wants to operate. The Trust does not overplay its role. They have a relationship and can engage in dialogue, but are not able to hold the club to account. Many on social media are critical of the Trust, questioning how democratic it is and the perceived lack of ‘teeth’. Some view it as just another propaganda tool. Certainly, the club does not seem to be as open and transparent as it professes to be, with the the distinct lack of any news on the interminable ground development being often cited as a (poor) example. If Tracey Crouch’s report has teeth and things progress, some real power for the Trust may be on the horizon. For now, it’s role is very limited.
There is plenty more in the review - from reform of the FA to the approval of all weather pitches in League 2, relegation and promotion clauses are recommended for players’ contracts and there is even a suggestion that consumption of alcohol pitch-side should be trialled. There is also a recommendation that Premier League clubs should pay a ‘stamp duty type’ tax on all transfer fees to help support the pyramid.
Of course, there have been countless reviews before and little has come of them. This one needs to be different. The Football Supporters’ Association welcome it, as does campaign group Fair Game. The EFL sound happy with it and the Premier League commended Crouch for her work. Saying “We recognise the vital importance of fans.” Do they? Will they? We’ll see…
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