A message to ALL football fans, regardless of which club you follow; Blackpool Supporters Trust has recently created a government petition with the following aim; The Government must introduce an independent regulator for English football. We urge the Government to introduce an independent regulator for English football, charged with ensuring the highest possible standards of governance for all clubs. The troubles we have endured at Blackpool FC during the Oyston ownership are well documented and make unbelievable reading, which has culminated in the Oystons being made to pay Valeri Belokon over £30m. Blackpool FC has become a by-word in the football community for mismanagement and crisis, and yet after a period several years, nothing has been done. The EFL shows no sign that it understands what its leadership role in this area should be, and as it clearly can’t - or won’t - rise to the challenge, then we feel that the Government must step in to lead the process of fundamental reform that is clearly needed. Blackpool is not the only club in such circumstances. Other 'crisis' clubs include AFC Wimbledon, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Fulham, Leyton Orient, Leeds United. Football clubs are too precious and too much a part of the fabric of our national life, to be left to the mercy of unregulated and often unscrupulous ownership. They need the protection of a robust regulatory framework that offers a range of sanctions against wrongdoers, mechanisms that allow problems to be confronted before they become deep-rooted and a governing body that has the desire to use it. As football fans, I would ask that you join us in trying to bring about change within the game and hopefully prevent future owners from loading clubs with debt, asset stripping and running clubs into the ground. We are all fans and we should stick together to ensure the clubs we love are owned and managed properly. The petition can be found here – https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/213108 Thank you all for your support and if you have Twitter, please feel free to tweet this or add on Facebook - get this message out there!! If you are a member of your club's fans forum, please post this on there for us to spread the word - we as fans are all in this together. Please let us know if you sign it, or even disagree with the petition by adding a comment/thumbs up. You can also sign the petition if you are browsing as a guest on this forum.
Excuse my ignorance. Can anyone summarise for me what happened at Blackpool and how government regulation could prevent it?
This is not just about Blackpool, it concerns all clubs. We don't wamt another Oyston type at any club in the future. Even you guys had a rough time due to the way your owners were running your club.
More accountability and someone to watch over them. There have been many protests from many clubs and the EFL have done nothing - other than protect their members i.e club owners. Fans are irrelivent to them and we want (as fans) to have a voice and be heard. too much cloak and dagger/backslapping in the current set up.
I agree, but how do you gauge owners' intentions or dictate what they can or can't do with the club they own? I'm not sure government regulation is the way to go or there's a lot that can practically be done about it other than the fans staging some revolution or takeover. Short of that, there will always be good owners and bad owners - you just have to hope your club has one with the on pitch side of things at heart.
Good points there and you are right - nobody knows owners intentions. That said though, when real concerns are raised, the EFL (or overarching body) should be accountable for their decisions or lack of action.
For info, a quick update from BST;s website; BST’s petition went live on the parliamentary website last week and will run for six months to 22nd August 2018. It has gained 5,000 signatures in the first week but requires 100,000 people to sign to trigger parliamentary action. What is it that most annoys football supporters? It’s not necessarily a draw or a defeat when they might have hoped for a victory. It’s under-performance, when players don’t give their all to try and turn a situation around. By extension, as fans we all have it in our power to try and make a positive difference in the way our game is run. We can all step up to the challenge. It takes just a few minutes to overcome the apathy, log on to the website and support a petition that could start to turn our situation around. This is the link to the petition: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/213108 Please support it today and encourage everyone you know to do the same. In parallel with that parliamentary petition, and in addition to our formal communications with the League, the Trust is also supporting the public campaign to put pressure of the EFL to act in regard to fans’ concerns. The EFL has indicated in the last 24 hours that it is willing to hold a meeting with Blackpool fans’ groups, Blackpool MPs and the Gazette newspaper during March to discuss the situation. Apparently ‘attendees will be given the opportunity to raise their concerns and EFL officials will endeavour to provide answers wherever possible and explain its position on a number of matters that have previously been raised in the public domain.’ Today’s planned demonstration outside EFL headquarters in Preston is intended to reinforce for the EFL the principle that fans are vital stakeholders in the game and to show the strength of our dissatisfaction with their response to date when it comes to dealing with rogue owners.. BST encourages all who are available to join this protest against the way that football is currently governed. It is important that the protest is peaceful and law-abiding, that it should make its legitimate point without intimidating either members of the public or EFL employees. There is a train from Blackpool South at 13:48 (the ‘EFL Special’ to Preston) but for those who can't make that train, the plan is to meet at Preston Station for 14.30pm and then to march down Fishergate for the Fans United protest outside EFL House. BST has agreed to be a point of contact/liaison for Lancashire Police, who are happy with the arrangements. BBC TV’s Question Time was broadcast from Blackpool last night. BST members were in the audience and hoping to pose a question about the state of affairs at Blackpool FC and its impact on the town, to get the thoughts of the panel and to give the issue of rogue ownership some national exposure. By the time you are reading this we will know if they were successful. Finally, the Trust is pleased to announce that BST committee member, Tony Wilkinson, has been elected to the board of the Supporters’ Direct England and Wales Football Council for a 3 year term. Congratulations go to Tony. He will do a wonderful job representing football fans everywhere as well as being a great ambassador for BST.
The petition now has over 8,000 signatures and we still need a lot more. We really need your help to make this happen Come on Red Devils, let's make this happen
Thank you for your support Chief We need shedloads more, so if there is any way you can publicise this further, please feel free to do so. We really appreciate any help we can get to make this happen - particularly within big clubs like yours
Just in... great news, long (but interesting) post Chris Matheson, who sits on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee, told Blackpool supporters he will introduce a private members’ bill on the issue. It comes in response to a petition set up by the Blackpool Supporters’ Trust, which calls for change in the way football is governed. The government responded after the petition gained 10,000 signatures, saying there was no "desire" or "need" to introduce an independent regulator. But Matheson, speaking at Wednesday night’s meeting of the North West division of the Football Supporters Federation, said he fully backs what the Blackpool supporters are trying to do. But the Labour MP for Chester, who is part of Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench, warned fans change will not happen overnight. Matheson said: “The problem with football is that as fans, we’re very tribal. But we are all football fans and these issues could happen to any single one of us. It’s so important we stick together. “The trouble is, the people that own our clubs are not business owners - not normal ones anyway. “If I go shopping but I don’t like the service or I don’t like what’s on offer, I can always choose a different shopping market. “With football, you can’t do that. I am an Everton fan, that’s who I am. So it must be bloody awful not being able to go and watch Blackpool. “It is completely correct to say the FA and the EFL simply pass the buck - they both say it’s the others’ responsibility. “The issue is the owners of the EFL are the member clubs, so I can’t see them changing unless we force them to change. That applies for the FA, too. “I like the idea of fan-owned football clubs but as much as I like it, it does not always work out. “It is a tricky balance because, as much as I want to see fans involved, in my experience at Chester there needs to be someone involved who has some knowledge of business. “As fans you have got to continue the pressure and you have to propel this group to the top table of football to give fans a proper voice. “They will take us for granted as long as we let them take us for granted. “These things are not pleasant, we want to just be able to support our clubs at the end of the day, but these people need to recognise it is our club and our game. “These things will not happen overnight, not politically anyway, but I will put forward a bill and the matter will be debated.” READ MORE: Government responds to petition set up by Blackpool fans The petition, which was published in February, urges the government to introduce an independent regulator for English football, charged with ensuring the "highest possible standards of governance" for all clubs. It recently passed the 12,000 mark. Should it receive more than 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in parliament. BST chairman Christine Seddon was also in attendance at Wednesday night’s meeting She said: “We are having to stand by and watch the situation play out in front of our own eyes without having a say. “That is why we believe an independent regulator should be introduced as the current system does not work. “We speak to the EFL but they refer us to the FA, so we go to the FA but they just refer us back to the EFL. It’s like playing pass the parcel. “So something needs to be done and the petition we set up is for all football clubs, not just Blackpool. “After all, every single club is only one bad owner away from disaster. It should not be a matter of pot luck, but at the moment we are all at the mercy of our owners. “Something needs to be brought in to limit the damage of owners who treat football clubs like their personal play-thing. “It is wrong and investment needs to be done in conjunction with the fans.” Read more at: https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...dent-regulator-for-english-football-1-9112183 Sign the petition here - https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/213108
