Independent Regulator
- Thread starter Blue Sheep
- Start date
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Fan lead review? Does a few protests and some thugs invading Old Trafford constitute any sort of review?
The underlying points are much too broadly written and lack any real detail for my liking.
Modern governments appointing a truly independent anything is unlikely.
Whilst I agree with the sceptical opinions on the promise of what will be delivered and the lack of detail given, I don’t believe that football in its current form as a commercial vehicle to line the pockets of the already very wealthy can (or should be allowed to) continue.
I don’t give a flying **** about United Or Liverpool but the notion of fan involvement and a fair redistribution of wealth throughout the pyramid are the sort of things that only an independent body can achieve as the clubs have already proven that they cannot be trusted with such notions.
I may not remember the 70’s or 80’s (and whilst football then may not have been perfect) but the idea of anyone having a chance of winning is what I bought into when I was a 10 ten year old and my dad took me down Ninian Park and far better than the closed shop that we heading towards or already in. Hence, even if it is a pig flying in the sky, I signed and shared
I applaud your passionately delivered comments there Mr Sheep. However, I fear the devil will be in the details of this hugely complex issue and pressing for change without a clear, precise and comprehensive idea of what would be required to rescue the game could be counter-productive. There's too much money involved to leave loopholes as a result of leaky legislation.Whilst I agree with the sceptical opinions on the promise of what will be delivered and the lack of detail given, I don’t believe that football in its current form as a commercial vehicle to line the pockets of the already very wealthy can (or should be allowed to) continue.
I don’t give a flying **** about United Or Liverpool but the notion of fan involvement and a fair redistribution of wealth throughout the pyramid are the sort of things that only an independent body can achieve as the clubs have already proven that they cannot be trusted with such notions.
I may not remember the 70’s or 80’s (and whilst football then may not have been perfect) but the idea of anyone having a chance of winning is what I bought into when I was a 10 ten year old and my dad took me down Ninian Park and far better than the closed shop that we heading towards or already in. Hence, even if it is a pig flying in the sky, I signed and shared
Mr Sheep, I agree with the overall tenor of your post but fail to see how football as a commercial vehicle lines the pockets. Almost no club is generating profits or increasing in value to line pockets. In fact, the ownership rules in other countries mean that the few that might be doing so benefit fans more (e.g Germany and Spain) while a handful of UK teams generate cash....or at least substantial cash consistently.
Many club owners have invested (loaned/donated) significant wadges of their own or their companies cash into the running of clubs, quite often to keep them going. VT being a prime example.
VT has converted a good chunk of this into equity to help the club's balance sheet. If he wanted out that element would have to be bought out by any buyer and any residual debt directly to VT or his company would have to be repaid or stay as a debt in the club's accounts - bad for FFP.
What I really don't get with the Manc and other club protests, and to an extent with the appointment of a regulator, is do these people expect the owners to walk away and write off their money? Again using VT as an example this probably amounts to £200m or more after the last year.
As I said a couple of weeks ago the Manc U value is £3 to £4 billion so even if the Glazers put the club up for sale there would not be many able or want to stump up that. They would again, like the Glazers, need to leverage (borrow) against the club value to fund that. And then would any potential owner meet the fit and proper rule to enable the current regulatory body, the FA or Prem League or whatever, to agree to the sale. It failed for Newcastle and I suspect the buyer for Direby jumped ship before the f & p ruling went against him, as 2 recent examples.
While an appointed regulator could oversee the clubs and, to an extent, their behaviour (the responsibilities of the FA, Prem and EFL at present), they would in many respects be advisory only and have little ability, at law, to enforce their views. They are hardly likely to be given the powers of the Financial or utilities regulators as these areas affect all of us. While there are a substantial number of people and/or involved in football this is hardly likely to be more than 8/10% of the population as a whole.
There is no simple answer to the issue and I think the government have many, more complex problems to worry about at present.
VT has converted a good chunk of this into equity to help the club's balance sheet. If he wanted out that element would have to be bought out by any buyer and any residual debt directly to VT or his company would have to be repaid or stay as a debt in the club's accounts - bad for FFP.
What I really don't get with the Manc and other club protests, and to an extent with the appointment of a regulator, is do these people expect the owners to walk away and write off their money? Again using VT as an example this probably amounts to £200m or more after the last year.
As I said a couple of weeks ago the Manc U value is £3 to £4 billion so even if the Glazers put the club up for sale there would not be many able or want to stump up that. They would again, like the Glazers, need to leverage (borrow) against the club value to fund that. And then would any potential owner meet the fit and proper rule to enable the current regulatory body, the FA or Prem League or whatever, to agree to the sale. It failed for Newcastle and I suspect the buyer for Direby jumped ship before the f & p ruling went against him, as 2 recent examples.
While an appointed regulator could oversee the clubs and, to an extent, their behaviour (the responsibilities of the FA, Prem and EFL at present), they would in many respects be advisory only and have little ability, at law, to enforce their views. They are hardly likely to be given the powers of the Financial or utilities regulators as these areas affect all of us. While there are a substantial number of people and/or involved in football this is hardly likely to be more than 8/10% of the population as a whole.
There is no simple answer to the issue and I think the government have many, more complex problems to worry about at present.