Source: This is Lancashire
8:15am Thursday 4th March 2010
A FORMER semi-professional footballer has been jailed for two years after admitting working as a loan shark.
Tony Cullen, aged 36, of Myrtle Grove, Whitefield, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, alongside five other family members involved in a complex and long-running swindle.
The catalogue of fraud was exposed after Tony Cullen’s brother David, aged 30, from Salford, was jailed for 10 years for robbing a bank in 2006. A probe into his luxury lifestyle revealed he bought a house in Scott Road, Prestwich, for £100,000 with a cash deposit of £40,000.
He also bought a Harley Davison pick-up truck for about £23,000 and an £8,000 Fiat Stylo for his girlfriend Natasha Smyth, who was herself fraudulently claiming benefits.
The court heard David Cullen ran money through the accounts of Tony and his brother, Arron of Rydal Grove, Whitefield, because they were both working.
Tony Cullen was once on the books of Premier League sides Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers and also played for Radcliffe Borough.
He joined semi-professional team FC United of Manchester when it formed in July 2005, playing home matches at Gigg Lane, Bury.
The player became the club’s first reserve team manager in 2006, but left United before these charges were brought.
Tony Cullen admitted earning £8,000 a month on the interest from unlicensed loans.
He drove a £30,000 Range Rover Vogue previously owned by Manchester United player Ryan Giggs.
Tony Cullen’s girlfriend, Christina Williamson, drove a £26,000 Volkswagen Toureg. Police found jewellery at their home worth £50,000. Tony Cullen admitted money laundering, running an illegal money lending business and conspiracy to commit benefit fraud. Williamson was given a 12-month suspended jail term and 250 hours of community service.
David Cullen admitted 13 counts of money laundering and a charge of conspiracy to defraud benefits and possessing a false passport. He was jailed for an additional three years.
Their mother, Bernadette Cullen, aged 55, of Higher Broughton, admitted conspiracy to defraud, two charges of dishonestly, making false statements and converting or concealing criminal property. She was jailed for 15 months.
Aaron Cullen, aged 27, admitted money laundering and was jailed for two years. Smyth admitted money laundering and benefit fraud and was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Ossett Town left deflated after FC United of Manchester late show
Source: Wakefield Express
Published Date:
03 March 2010
By Nick Rigg
FC United of Manchester 2
Ossett Town 1
BATTLING Ossett Town left in-form FC United of Manchester with nothing to show for their efforts as Ben Deegan netted a late, late goal for the hosts at Gigg Lane.
Deegan netted deep into stoppage time to send Peter Daniel and his men back across the Pennines defeated and deep in relegation trouble in the UniBond Premier Division.
Town, who went into the game looking to bounce back from a demoralising 7-0 thrashing at Boston United at the weekend, looked to have secured a point thanks to Andy Catton's 77th minute leveller.
Jerome Wright had given Karl Marginson's men an 11th minute lead in front of a bumper crowd of 1,681 at Gigg Lane.
See Friday's Wakefield Express Sport for all the latest UniBond Premier League news from our local clubs.
* Last Updated: 03 March 2010 10:22 PM
Published Date:
03 March 2010
By Nick Rigg
FC United of Manchester 2
Ossett Town 1
BATTLING Ossett Town left in-form FC United of Manchester with nothing to show for their efforts as Ben Deegan netted a late, late goal for the hosts at Gigg Lane.
Deegan netted deep into stoppage time to send Peter Daniel and his men back across the Pennines defeated and deep in relegation trouble in the UniBond Premier Division.
Town, who went into the game looking to bounce back from a demoralising 7-0 thrashing at Boston United at the weekend, looked to have secured a point thanks to Andy Catton's 77th minute leveller.
Jerome Wright had given Karl Marginson's men an 11th minute lead in front of a bumper crowd of 1,681 at Gigg Lane.
See Friday's Wakefield Express Sport for all the latest UniBond Premier League news from our local clubs.
* Last Updated: 03 March 2010 10:22 PM
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Bond issue behind the fans’ revolt
Source: City A.M.
Wednesday, 3rd March 2010
WHEN the Glazer family took over Manchester United in 2005 it was made clear to them that they were unwanted owners, given they had financed the takeover with expensive debt that would inevitably have to be serviced at high cost.
Fans demonstrated against their purchase and some even set up their own club, FC United, in protest. But, owing to a mixture of success on the field and a lack of alternative purchasers off it, the Glazers have managed to cling on to control without ever being embraced by the majority of the United support.
A few weeks ago, though, the Glazers’ popularity fell to a crushingly new low. Indeed United supporters, the customers of the Glazers’ product, are revolting.
They have in their thousands reclaimed the green and gold colours of Newton Heath, the club that United was formed from, and in the City they have found wealthy backers who are working furiously on alternative ownership plans.
TURNING TIDE
The thing that changed everything was a recent £500m bond issue the Glazers hoped would sort their financing difficulties.
The 322-page prospectus that was issued in order to encourage take-up of the bond revealed that the Glazers could potentially take almost £130m cash out of the club next year alone.
That figure is in addition to the payment of interest on the £504m bond of around £45m. Football fans are a conservative lot but they can normally be won round to new owners by the promise of a fresh injection of cash for new players. It did not take long, for example, for Chelsea fans to warm to Roman Abramovich, once the cheque book for mega-signings came out.
But the Glazers face the charge of taking money out of United, not putting it in.
DRINKER
Now fans are being urged not to renew their season tickets. Keith Harris, the Seymour Pierce chairman and die-hard United fan who is co-ordinating the potential City takeover, reckons that 15,000 fans might be persuaded to vote with their feet and turn down the chance to attend matches at Old Trafford next season, costing the Glazer family around £12m. That is a big ask for football fans who need their matchday almost as much as a drinker needs his next pint.
But there is a sense the tide is turning inexorably against the Glazers. Manchester United is now officially in play and if Harris and his chums fail to come up with the £1.2bn or so to fund a bid there is every reason that somebody else might want to have a shot at owning the best-known football club in the world.
Wednesday, 3rd March 2010
WHEN the Glazer family took over Manchester United in 2005 it was made clear to them that they were unwanted owners, given they had financed the takeover with expensive debt that would inevitably have to be serviced at high cost.
Fans demonstrated against their purchase and some even set up their own club, FC United, in protest. But, owing to a mixture of success on the field and a lack of alternative purchasers off it, the Glazers have managed to cling on to control without ever being embraced by the majority of the United support.
A few weeks ago, though, the Glazers’ popularity fell to a crushingly new low. Indeed United supporters, the customers of the Glazers’ product, are revolting.
They have in their thousands reclaimed the green and gold colours of Newton Heath, the club that United was formed from, and in the City they have found wealthy backers who are working furiously on alternative ownership plans.
TURNING TIDE
The thing that changed everything was a recent £500m bond issue the Glazers hoped would sort their financing difficulties.
The 322-page prospectus that was issued in order to encourage take-up of the bond revealed that the Glazers could potentially take almost £130m cash out of the club next year alone.
That figure is in addition to the payment of interest on the £504m bond of around £45m. Football fans are a conservative lot but they can normally be won round to new owners by the promise of a fresh injection of cash for new players. It did not take long, for example, for Chelsea fans to warm to Roman Abramovich, once the cheque book for mega-signings came out.
But the Glazers face the charge of taking money out of United, not putting it in.
DRINKER
Now fans are being urged not to renew their season tickets. Keith Harris, the Seymour Pierce chairman and die-hard United fan who is co-ordinating the potential City takeover, reckons that 15,000 fans might be persuaded to vote with their feet and turn down the chance to attend matches at Old Trafford next season, costing the Glazer family around £12m. That is a big ask for football fans who need their matchday almost as much as a drinker needs his next pint.
But there is a sense the tide is turning inexorably against the Glazers. Manchester United is now officially in play and if Harris and his chums fail to come up with the £1.2bn or so to fund a bid there is every reason that somebody else might want to have a shot at owning the best-known football club in the world.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Marginson guarding against FC complacency
Source: Manchester Evening News
Sam Williams
March 02, 2010
FC United must avoid complacency if they are to make it eight games without defeat when they host Ossett on Wednesday (7.45pm) according to Karl Marginson.
Graham Firth’s 19th-placed side are battling relegation and go into the game on the back of a 7-0 hammering at Boston on Saturday.
However, Marginson insists his players will not take anything for granted as they look to close the gap on the sides above them in the race for the play-offs.
“We’re not looking at their league position,” said the manager.
“We were down there a few months ago but nobody was complacent against us, and we have to approach this game in that same way.
“They’ll gain motivation from coming to play at a great ground like Gigg Lane, but if we can take the positives from the North Ferriby game then we’ll be prepared and ready for them.”
Marginson hopes to have a full-strength squad to choose from, and defender Kyle Jacobs will be available after missing last Saturday’s game to attend the birth of his child.
“We should be at full-strength - we’ve got a really strong squad now with a lot of competition for places,” he said.
Sam Williams
March 02, 2010
FC United must avoid complacency if they are to make it eight games without defeat when they host Ossett on Wednesday (7.45pm) according to Karl Marginson.
Graham Firth’s 19th-placed side are battling relegation and go into the game on the back of a 7-0 hammering at Boston on Saturday.
However, Marginson insists his players will not take anything for granted as they look to close the gap on the sides above them in the race for the play-offs.
“We’re not looking at their league position,” said the manager.
“We were down there a few months ago but nobody was complacent against us, and we have to approach this game in that same way.
“They’ll gain motivation from coming to play at a great ground like Gigg Lane, but if we can take the positives from the North Ferriby game then we’ll be prepared and ready for them.”
Marginson hopes to have a full-strength squad to choose from, and defender Kyle Jacobs will be available after missing last Saturday’s game to attend the birth of his child.
“We should be at full-strength - we’ve got a really strong squad now with a lot of competition for places,” he said.
Red Knights to the rescue?
Source: When Saturday Comes
2 March ~ It was reported this morning that a "group of high net worth individuals (known as the 'Red Knights')" are planning to put together a £1 billion bid for Manchester United. In the current issue of WSC, available now, Ashley Shaw looked at the fury caused by the Glazer family's attempt to load even more debt onto the club
There have been few more important documents in the history of Manchester United than the bond prospectus published last month. The admission that the Glazers have already taken out £22.9 million in loans and fees, and could suck a further £500m out of the club over the next seven years, means there can no longer be any pretence about the motivation for the 2005 takeover. The age of the football asset-stripper is at hand.
One chief side-effect has been to galvanise a dozing support, previously happy to accept the Americans at their word. There can be few sane supporters left who are now prepared to "wait and see". Nor can chief executive David Gill again claim that the switch from plc to private ownership has improved the club's chances in the transfer market when it took the sale of their most lucrative playing asset to keep the club's accounts in the black.
The astronomical levels of debt loaded on to the club are already having an impact on United's ability to attract and keep the best players. If it wasn't spelled out before, the events of January 2010 make it painfully obvious that Man Utd are officially skint, with every prospect of the crisis worsening. The publication of the prospectus could not have been better timed. As supporters looked back on a dominant past two decades, most now realise that they will struggle to match that success in the next ten years. The imminent retirement of a number of key personnel and an increased competitiveness at the top of the Premier League will surely lead to an extended period of "transition".
The Carling Cup semi-final against freshly minted rivals highlighted the lengths to which the nouveau riche in English football are catching up the Big Four. Despite United's victory, the gap between the teams has clearly narrowed to the extent that it is now City, rather than debt-laden, mismanaged Liverpool, who represent United's fiercest rivals. The intense atmosphere and festering subplots made for a soap opera cast of villains and heroes. This is clearly now the fiercest rivalry at the top of the English game.
Yet the crisis at the club remains misunderstood by many. The successful take-up of the £504m bond issue, sought to pay off senior (bank) debt, consigns United to a fate worse than administration in that it frees the club's owners from oversight, allowing them to suck yet more cash out. This isn't new money to improve the club but replacement debt for the original bank loan Malcolm Glazer took out to buy the club, attracting a higher interest rate but with fewer strings attached.
According to one expert, the covenants in the prospectus could allow the Glazers to take over £500m out of club coffers in the next seven years. This figure includes the £8m leaseback of Carrington, a total of £161m in dividends to the Glazers, an estimated £333m in interest payments and a potential £63m in management fees and "expenses" (from http://andersred.blogspot.com). All of which makes the £22.9m taken out in loans and fees since 2005 resemble the amuse-bouche ahead of a seven-course cash banquet.
When one considers the continuing plight of the Glazers' other businesses, principally First Allied Corporation, a holding company that, among other things, owns shopping malls in recession-hit small-town America, it seems likely that the family will seek to glean every cent available from United.
Falling ticket sales and tight player salaries have further hindered the Glazers' other sporting acquisition, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – a combination that led to them ending the season as the third-worst team in the entire league. Saved from relegation by the franchise system, the Buccs can look forward to a high draft pick and renewed hope for the season ahead.
The same could not be said should Alex Ferguson or his successor continue to be limited to low-rent signings in a market inflated by the arrival of mega-rich owners. Yet the money underpinning these plans is generated almost exclusively by United supporters, either via television rights, merchandising or ticket sales. An organised, meaningful protest would not be too late to disrupt an over-leveraged business that relies on on-field success to maintain it. On the contrary the Glazers appear more vulnerable now than they have been at any point during their reign.
The original 2005 protests failed because the vast majority of match-going Reds were not prepared to change the habit of a lifetime. The formation of FC United created a split in the support that the Glazers, Sir Alex Ferguson and certain fan groups enthusiastically exploited. From 2006 onwards dissent toward the ruling family was muted and, aside from the publication of the club's annual accounts, there was very little for sceptical fans to get their teeth into. Of course the trophies also kept on coming.
Five years on and a successful mass boycott seems the only feasible way to de-rail the Glazers' plans. Initially this would impact on the club and lead the owners to suck more key assets out of the club, with the sale and leaseback of the stadium (valued at £235m) top of the agenda, along with the disposal of remaining playing assets. In the longer term, however, it would surely disrupt the owners' plans.
For proof check out page 17 of the Glazer prospectus where they freely admit "We depend on our matchday supporters", continuing: "A reduction in matchday attendance could have a materially adverse effect on our matchday revenues and our overall business." The ball, as it has been since 2005, remains in the supporters' court. Put simply, every ticket sold props up the Glazer regime.
As it is the 2010 version of this campaign is still in its infancy and from the off it already seems more visible and media-friendly. In place of the riots that scarred the last attempt, supporters have taken up the green and gold colours of predecessor club Newton Heath which has seen the issue raised to a profile not enjoyed since the original takeover. What happens when the story moves on is a different matter.
Not that removing the Glazers will be quick or easy. In a 1989 interview with the Milwaukee Sentinel Malcolm Glazer said of his business interests: "Everything we have, we keep for 100 years. I don't sell many things. When I buy them, I keep them." Mr Glazer may be many things but he cannot be accused of stupidity. With a cash cow like United at his disposal and his other business interests hit by the recession, why would he sell?
As it is, a couple of high-profile signings, via the fearsome-sounding £75m "revolving credit facility", could yet pull the wool over mainstream supporters' eyes and the protests could peter out just as they did back in 2005. Here's hoping that the lessons of that campaign have been learned before there is nothing left of a once proud football club.
2 March ~ It was reported this morning that a "group of high net worth individuals (known as the 'Red Knights')" are planning to put together a £1 billion bid for Manchester United. In the current issue of WSC, available now, Ashley Shaw looked at the fury caused by the Glazer family's attempt to load even more debt onto the club
There have been few more important documents in the history of Manchester United than the bond prospectus published last month. The admission that the Glazers have already taken out £22.9 million in loans and fees, and could suck a further £500m out of the club over the next seven years, means there can no longer be any pretence about the motivation for the 2005 takeover. The age of the football asset-stripper is at hand.
One chief side-effect has been to galvanise a dozing support, previously happy to accept the Americans at their word. There can be few sane supporters left who are now prepared to "wait and see". Nor can chief executive David Gill again claim that the switch from plc to private ownership has improved the club's chances in the transfer market when it took the sale of their most lucrative playing asset to keep the club's accounts in the black.
The astronomical levels of debt loaded on to the club are already having an impact on United's ability to attract and keep the best players. If it wasn't spelled out before, the events of January 2010 make it painfully obvious that Man Utd are officially skint, with every prospect of the crisis worsening. The publication of the prospectus could not have been better timed. As supporters looked back on a dominant past two decades, most now realise that they will struggle to match that success in the next ten years. The imminent retirement of a number of key personnel and an increased competitiveness at the top of the Premier League will surely lead to an extended period of "transition".
The Carling Cup semi-final against freshly minted rivals highlighted the lengths to which the nouveau riche in English football are catching up the Big Four. Despite United's victory, the gap between the teams has clearly narrowed to the extent that it is now City, rather than debt-laden, mismanaged Liverpool, who represent United's fiercest rivals. The intense atmosphere and festering subplots made for a soap opera cast of villains and heroes. This is clearly now the fiercest rivalry at the top of the English game.
Yet the crisis at the club remains misunderstood by many. The successful take-up of the £504m bond issue, sought to pay off senior (bank) debt, consigns United to a fate worse than administration in that it frees the club's owners from oversight, allowing them to suck yet more cash out. This isn't new money to improve the club but replacement debt for the original bank loan Malcolm Glazer took out to buy the club, attracting a higher interest rate but with fewer strings attached.
According to one expert, the covenants in the prospectus could allow the Glazers to take over £500m out of club coffers in the next seven years. This figure includes the £8m leaseback of Carrington, a total of £161m in dividends to the Glazers, an estimated £333m in interest payments and a potential £63m in management fees and "expenses" (from http://andersred.blogspot.com). All of which makes the £22.9m taken out in loans and fees since 2005 resemble the amuse-bouche ahead of a seven-course cash banquet.
When one considers the continuing plight of the Glazers' other businesses, principally First Allied Corporation, a holding company that, among other things, owns shopping malls in recession-hit small-town America, it seems likely that the family will seek to glean every cent available from United.
Falling ticket sales and tight player salaries have further hindered the Glazers' other sporting acquisition, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – a combination that led to them ending the season as the third-worst team in the entire league. Saved from relegation by the franchise system, the Buccs can look forward to a high draft pick and renewed hope for the season ahead.
The same could not be said should Alex Ferguson or his successor continue to be limited to low-rent signings in a market inflated by the arrival of mega-rich owners. Yet the money underpinning these plans is generated almost exclusively by United supporters, either via television rights, merchandising or ticket sales. An organised, meaningful protest would not be too late to disrupt an over-leveraged business that relies on on-field success to maintain it. On the contrary the Glazers appear more vulnerable now than they have been at any point during their reign.
The original 2005 protests failed because the vast majority of match-going Reds were not prepared to change the habit of a lifetime. The formation of FC United created a split in the support that the Glazers, Sir Alex Ferguson and certain fan groups enthusiastically exploited. From 2006 onwards dissent toward the ruling family was muted and, aside from the publication of the club's annual accounts, there was very little for sceptical fans to get their teeth into. Of course the trophies also kept on coming.
Five years on and a successful mass boycott seems the only feasible way to de-rail the Glazers' plans. Initially this would impact on the club and lead the owners to suck more key assets out of the club, with the sale and leaseback of the stadium (valued at £235m) top of the agenda, along with the disposal of remaining playing assets. In the longer term, however, it would surely disrupt the owners' plans.
For proof check out page 17 of the Glazer prospectus where they freely admit "We depend on our matchday supporters", continuing: "A reduction in matchday attendance could have a materially adverse effect on our matchday revenues and our overall business." The ball, as it has been since 2005, remains in the supporters' court. Put simply, every ticket sold props up the Glazer regime.
As it is the 2010 version of this campaign is still in its infancy and from the off it already seems more visible and media-friendly. In place of the riots that scarred the last attempt, supporters have taken up the green and gold colours of predecessor club Newton Heath which has seen the issue raised to a profile not enjoyed since the original takeover. What happens when the story moves on is a different matter.
Not that removing the Glazers will be quick or easy. In a 1989 interview with the Milwaukee Sentinel Malcolm Glazer said of his business interests: "Everything we have, we keep for 100 years. I don't sell many things. When I buy them, I keep them." Mr Glazer may be many things but he cannot be accused of stupidity. With a cash cow like United at his disposal and his other business interests hit by the recession, why would he sell?
As it is, a couple of high-profile signings, via the fearsome-sounding £75m "revolving credit facility", could yet pull the wool over mainstream supporters' eyes and the protests could peter out just as they did back in 2005. Here's hoping that the lessons of that campaign have been learned before there is nothing left of a once proud football club.
This United goal is green and gold
Source: The Guardian
May the Red Knights oust the Glazers. But this campaign should encourage fans to demand real collective ownership
o Gwyn Topham
o guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 March 2010 17.30 GMT
Manchester United fans wave green and gold scarves at the Carling Cup final in an anti-Glazer protest. Photograph: Neal Simpson/EMPICS Sport
A consortium of City bankers is planning a £1bn takeover bid. Such news rarely sounds as promising as it will to Manchester United fans today. The deep antipathy to the Glazer family has hardened after the financial results of their ownership of the club were laid bare in January.
Yet optimism should be heavily tinged with caution. While Malcolm Glazer's route to a takeover was to steadily buy up shares when it was a plc in 2005, the club is now his alone to sell or not. And though this consortium features influential financiers described as committed United fans, football is littered with the debris of owners, chairmen and directors who promised much and wreaked havoc at the likes of Newcastle, Leeds, and Portsmouth.
Even the name Red Knights evokes cringing memories of one Michael Knighton, who promised to take the club soaring from the clutches of the unpopular Martin Edwards early in Alex Ferguson's time as manager.
There may be no such doubts over the credentials or affiliation of the likes of Jim O'Neill, a key player in any bid, but there still seems something unlikely about this Goldman Sachs chief economist endorsing the "collective ownership model" that would give ordinary fans a real stake in the club.
The major, overriding reason that United fans will be backing the Red Knights is simple: the endorsement, and partnership, of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST), whose membership has swelled to 54,000 and is still growing.
Whether it succeeds in ousting the Glazers, the campaign has been an extraordinary one to see. Anti-Glazer feeling has been strong enough to provoke direct action from supporters before now, but it was muted on a wider level – partly by the defence mounted by Ferguson of his American bosses.
After years of subdued resentment, the massive profusion of green and gold – the colours worn by United in the days when they were Newton Heath – has suddenly made visible all that individual anger, the rage shared by the spectators in the next seats and rows. We might look like Norwich fans, but it has been inspiring and energising – the waving scarves and chants have helped create an atmosphere that has not been matched at Old Trafford in years.
The genius of the protest is in providing a way to demonstrate both passion for the club and dissociation from the specific, corporate elements that currently occupy the boardroom.
The green and gold symbolically bypasses the dilemma that Glazer has posed every United fan: do you continue to support, emotionally and financially, a team turned into a company-cum-brand or company run for the speculative financial benefit of a Florida-based family, when the profits are being leached away and the cost of your season ticket is being hiked year after year? Is it better to walk away and start again – as FC United of Manchester did?
Now, to some extent, it feels possible to voice that positive support and massive dissatisfaction at once, as the sight of thousands twirling green and gold scarfs back at the United players and manager parading the Carling Cup at Wembley on Sunday showed.
Whether such a brilliantly simple, visual campaign could work here without the ready-made crowd and constituency of a football club is difficult to know. Yet there are British parallels that go beyond the game: the mass of Labour supporters who have felt their party had been hijacked by a leadership alien to its values, or even those conservative homeowners who want banks for their pensions and mortgages but are outraged by the Fred Goodwins of the world.
In an era where its easy to believe, from the Iraq war to Cadbury, that most people are powerless in the face of bigger, shapeless, forces, even wresting control of Manchester United away from the Glazers would feel a real victory – and a start. The detail that MUST has drawn on some of Obama's campaign consultants should make fans recall that hope doesn't necessarily deliver instead change. Putting ones hope in a group of bankers may not prove enough, but the momentum the campaign already has could make supporters – of all clubs – believe that shared control is an achievable goal.
May the Red Knights oust the Glazers. But this campaign should encourage fans to demand real collective ownership
o Gwyn Topham
o guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 March 2010 17.30 GMT
Manchester United fans wave green and gold scarves at the Carling Cup final in an anti-Glazer protest. Photograph: Neal Simpson/EMPICS Sport
A consortium of City bankers is planning a £1bn takeover bid. Such news rarely sounds as promising as it will to Manchester United fans today. The deep antipathy to the Glazer family has hardened after the financial results of their ownership of the club were laid bare in January.
Yet optimism should be heavily tinged with caution. While Malcolm Glazer's route to a takeover was to steadily buy up shares when it was a plc in 2005, the club is now his alone to sell or not. And though this consortium features influential financiers described as committed United fans, football is littered with the debris of owners, chairmen and directors who promised much and wreaked havoc at the likes of Newcastle, Leeds, and Portsmouth.
Even the name Red Knights evokes cringing memories of one Michael Knighton, who promised to take the club soaring from the clutches of the unpopular Martin Edwards early in Alex Ferguson's time as manager.
There may be no such doubts over the credentials or affiliation of the likes of Jim O'Neill, a key player in any bid, but there still seems something unlikely about this Goldman Sachs chief economist endorsing the "collective ownership model" that would give ordinary fans a real stake in the club.
The major, overriding reason that United fans will be backing the Red Knights is simple: the endorsement, and partnership, of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST), whose membership has swelled to 54,000 and is still growing.
Whether it succeeds in ousting the Glazers, the campaign has been an extraordinary one to see. Anti-Glazer feeling has been strong enough to provoke direct action from supporters before now, but it was muted on a wider level – partly by the defence mounted by Ferguson of his American bosses.
After years of subdued resentment, the massive profusion of green and gold – the colours worn by United in the days when they were Newton Heath – has suddenly made visible all that individual anger, the rage shared by the spectators in the next seats and rows. We might look like Norwich fans, but it has been inspiring and energising – the waving scarves and chants have helped create an atmosphere that has not been matched at Old Trafford in years.
The genius of the protest is in providing a way to demonstrate both passion for the club and dissociation from the specific, corporate elements that currently occupy the boardroom.
The green and gold symbolically bypasses the dilemma that Glazer has posed every United fan: do you continue to support, emotionally and financially, a team turned into a company-cum-brand or company run for the speculative financial benefit of a Florida-based family, when the profits are being leached away and the cost of your season ticket is being hiked year after year? Is it better to walk away and start again – as FC United of Manchester did?
Now, to some extent, it feels possible to voice that positive support and massive dissatisfaction at once, as the sight of thousands twirling green and gold scarfs back at the United players and manager parading the Carling Cup at Wembley on Sunday showed.
Whether such a brilliantly simple, visual campaign could work here without the ready-made crowd and constituency of a football club is difficult to know. Yet there are British parallels that go beyond the game: the mass of Labour supporters who have felt their party had been hijacked by a leadership alien to its values, or even those conservative homeowners who want banks for their pensions and mortgages but are outraged by the Fred Goodwins of the world.
In an era where its easy to believe, from the Iraq war to Cadbury, that most people are powerless in the face of bigger, shapeless, forces, even wresting control of Manchester United away from the Glazers would feel a real victory – and a start. The detail that MUST has drawn on some of Obama's campaign consultants should make fans recall that hope doesn't necessarily deliver instead change. Putting ones hope in a group of bankers may not prove enough, but the momentum the campaign already has could make supporters – of all clubs – believe that shared control is an achievable goal.
Ferriby settle for point
Source: Hull Daily Mail
Monday, March 01, 2010, 05:55
NORTH Ferriby shared the points in a thrilling 3-3 draw with FC United of Manchester at Gigg Lane.
Ferriby had 2-0 and 3-2 advantages before having to settle for another valuable point.
Manager Neil Allison had mixed emotions.
He said: "It was always going to be difficult facing an in-form side in front of such a big crowd, and in that respect it's good to come away with something, but if we'd carried our first half performance into the second, I know we could have picked up all three points."
Ferriby were ahead within five minutes through a bizarre own goal.
The advancing Alex Davidson was tackled in the box by Ludovic Quistin, and the FC United defence were left rooted to the spot as the loose ball rolled over the line.
FC immediately set about making amends for this early error, and Ferriby keeper Steve Wilson was in fine form to gather Ben Deegan's far post header after he was flicked on by Jerome Wright.
However, it was Ferriby who went in the happier side at half-time, thanks to doubling their advantage with a sublime move on 43 minutes.
Gary Bradshaw's ball over the top of the FC United defence put Chris Bolder through on goal; the midfielder advanced on goal before playing the ball to the left just in time for the on-rushing Mark Whitehouse to slot home.
Willed on by the 2,000-plus crowd, the home side set about rescuing the tie.
It was Deegan who finally made the breakthrough on 59 minutes, heading home a fine cross from substitute Phil Marsh. Within six minutes, Marsh's corner found the head of captain David Chadwick to bring them level.
On 71 minutes, Davidson's cross was met at the far post by the head of Bolder to put the Villagers back ahead.
Ferriby then looked to have gifted their hosts an equaliser five minutes later when the ball struck the hand of Ben Turner in the box. However, Marsh fired his penalty straight at Wilson.
Just moments afterwards, the referee was again pointing to the spot, after Kevin Larvin had brought down Carlos Roca as the FC United winger raced through on goal.
Larvin saw red for his challenge, and this time Deegan stepped up and made no mistake from the spot.
FC lost their numerical advantage soon after, when Rob Nugent was given his marching orders for a trip on Russell Fry.
Neither side was able to snatch all three points in the closing minutes, and honours were deservedly even at the final whistle.
North Ferriby: Steve Wilson, Tom Matthews, Kevin Larvin, Ben Turner, Paul Foot (c), Chris Bolder, David Cooke, Russell Fry, Alex Davidson (Ben Morley), Gary Bradshaw (Peter Davidson), Mark Whitehouse Subs not used: Colin Hunter, Ben Hallam.
FC United: Sam Ashton, Ludovic Quistin, Jake Cottrell, James Holden (Phil Marsh), David Chadwick (c), Rob Nugent, Carlos Roca, Simon Carden, Kyle Wilson (Joseph Yoffe), Jerome Wright, Ben Deegan Subs not used: Grant Shenton, Angelos Tsiaklis, Adam Karim.
Monday, March 01, 2010, 05:55
NORTH Ferriby shared the points in a thrilling 3-3 draw with FC United of Manchester at Gigg Lane.
Ferriby had 2-0 and 3-2 advantages before having to settle for another valuable point.
Manager Neil Allison had mixed emotions.
He said: "It was always going to be difficult facing an in-form side in front of such a big crowd, and in that respect it's good to come away with something, but if we'd carried our first half performance into the second, I know we could have picked up all three points."
Ferriby were ahead within five minutes through a bizarre own goal.
The advancing Alex Davidson was tackled in the box by Ludovic Quistin, and the FC United defence were left rooted to the spot as the loose ball rolled over the line.
FC immediately set about making amends for this early error, and Ferriby keeper Steve Wilson was in fine form to gather Ben Deegan's far post header after he was flicked on by Jerome Wright.
However, it was Ferriby who went in the happier side at half-time, thanks to doubling their advantage with a sublime move on 43 minutes.
Gary Bradshaw's ball over the top of the FC United defence put Chris Bolder through on goal; the midfielder advanced on goal before playing the ball to the left just in time for the on-rushing Mark Whitehouse to slot home.
Willed on by the 2,000-plus crowd, the home side set about rescuing the tie.
It was Deegan who finally made the breakthrough on 59 minutes, heading home a fine cross from substitute Phil Marsh. Within six minutes, Marsh's corner found the head of captain David Chadwick to bring them level.
On 71 minutes, Davidson's cross was met at the far post by the head of Bolder to put the Villagers back ahead.
Ferriby then looked to have gifted their hosts an equaliser five minutes later when the ball struck the hand of Ben Turner in the box. However, Marsh fired his penalty straight at Wilson.
Just moments afterwards, the referee was again pointing to the spot, after Kevin Larvin had brought down Carlos Roca as the FC United winger raced through on goal.
Larvin saw red for his challenge, and this time Deegan stepped up and made no mistake from the spot.
FC lost their numerical advantage soon after, when Rob Nugent was given his marching orders for a trip on Russell Fry.
Neither side was able to snatch all three points in the closing minutes, and honours were deservedly even at the final whistle.
North Ferriby: Steve Wilson, Tom Matthews, Kevin Larvin, Ben Turner, Paul Foot (c), Chris Bolder, David Cooke, Russell Fry, Alex Davidson (Ben Morley), Gary Bradshaw (Peter Davidson), Mark Whitehouse Subs not used: Colin Hunter, Ben Hallam.
FC United: Sam Ashton, Ludovic Quistin, Jake Cottrell, James Holden (Phil Marsh), David Chadwick (c), Rob Nugent, Carlos Roca, Simon Carden, Kyle Wilson (Joseph Yoffe), Jerome Wright, Ben Deegan Subs not used: Grant Shenton, Angelos Tsiaklis, Adam Karim.
Monday, March 01, 2010
FC share spoils in six-goal thriller at Gigg
Source: The Bolton News
9:10am Monday 1st March 2010
By Staff Sports Reporter »
FC United’s surge toward the UniBond Premier League play-offs was slowed by a 3-3 draw with North Rerriby United at Gigg Lane.
The rebels were unbeaten in three matches going into the game, but they were two goals down at half time after Ludovic Quistin put through his own goal on five minutes and Mark Whittaker doubled the visitors’ advantage two minutes before the interval.
Ben Deegan pulled one back for FC on the hour before captain David Chadwick levelled five minutes later.
Chris Bolder put Ferriby back in front 19 minutes from time, but Deegan grabbed another equaliser from the penalty spot on 79 minutes.
In Division One North, Leigh Genesis turned on the style to beat Chorley 5-1 at Victory Park, with Jordan Stepien scoring a hat-trick.
Genesis took the lead in the 12th minute when Jack Dorney swept the ball home.
The lead was doubled four minutes later when Stepien converted Tom Ince’s low cross.
Chorley pulled one back five minutes after the restart when Alex Porter flicked in a cross from one-time Genesis man Chris Amadi.
Ince restored Leigh’s two-goal cushion in the 52nd minute before another former Leigh man Wayne Maden was instrumental in thumping the ball against Stepien’s back before it trickled over the line.
Genesis’s fifth goal arrived in stoppage time with Stepien completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Meanwhile, RadcliffeBorough stormed back from 2-0 down to beat UniBond Division One North high-flyers AFC Halifax Town 3-2 and notch their eighth win in 10 games.
In front of a crowd of more than 500 at Stainton Park, Scott Phelan put the Yorkshiremen ahead on 24 minutes and Harry Winters doubled their advantage 11 minutes after the restart.
But Boro’s in-form 19-year-old striker Ben Wharton grabbed one back on 63 minutes and Shaun Connor equalised five minutes later.
Wharton grabbed the winner with his 13th goal of the season four minutes from time.
9:10am Monday 1st March 2010
By Staff Sports Reporter »
FC United’s surge toward the UniBond Premier League play-offs was slowed by a 3-3 draw with North Rerriby United at Gigg Lane.
The rebels were unbeaten in three matches going into the game, but they were two goals down at half time after Ludovic Quistin put through his own goal on five minutes and Mark Whittaker doubled the visitors’ advantage two minutes before the interval.
Ben Deegan pulled one back for FC on the hour before captain David Chadwick levelled five minutes later.
Chris Bolder put Ferriby back in front 19 minutes from time, but Deegan grabbed another equaliser from the penalty spot on 79 minutes.
In Division One North, Leigh Genesis turned on the style to beat Chorley 5-1 at Victory Park, with Jordan Stepien scoring a hat-trick.
Genesis took the lead in the 12th minute when Jack Dorney swept the ball home.
The lead was doubled four minutes later when Stepien converted Tom Ince’s low cross.
Chorley pulled one back five minutes after the restart when Alex Porter flicked in a cross from one-time Genesis man Chris Amadi.
Ince restored Leigh’s two-goal cushion in the 52nd minute before another former Leigh man Wayne Maden was instrumental in thumping the ball against Stepien’s back before it trickled over the line.
Genesis’s fifth goal arrived in stoppage time with Stepien completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot.
Meanwhile, RadcliffeBorough stormed back from 2-0 down to beat UniBond Division One North high-flyers AFC Halifax Town 3-2 and notch their eighth win in 10 games.
In front of a crowd of more than 500 at Stainton Park, Scott Phelan put the Yorkshiremen ahead on 24 minutes and Harry Winters doubled their advantage 11 minutes after the restart.
But Boro’s in-form 19-year-old striker Ben Wharton grabbed one back on 63 minutes and Shaun Connor equalised five minutes later.
Wharton grabbed the winner with his 13th goal of the season four minutes from time.
Match Of The Week: FC United of Manchester 3-3 North Ferriby United
Source: Twohundred Percent
The concern that had been aired during the week was that the “Beyond The Debt” rally could be scuppered by the weather. As the tenants at Bury’s Gigg Lane, FC United of Manchester suffer more postponements than most but on Saurday, even though the pitch is in a poor condition, the predicted rain has managed to hold off for long enough to ensure that the game goes ahead. In an exceptionally tight Unibond League Premier Division, FC United have gone from being relegation contenders to being in a position to be able to view the play-offs on the horizon. Five straight wins have taken them into the top half of the table.
Today, though, lies a big challenge. North Ferriby United survive on crowds that are roughly one-tenth the size of the crowd here today, but they are in fourth place in the Unibond League Premier Division with games in hand on all three of the teams above them in the table. They seem likely to grab one of the play-off places and could yet win the Unibond League championship this season. Within five minutes of the start of the match, they have taken the lead. United defender Ludovic Quistin and Davidson tussle for the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area. It seems that the referee may to penalty to North Ferriby but Quiston wraps his foot around the ball and rolls it wide of Sam Ashton and a foot over the line before it can be scrambled away.
Ferriby are strong and well organised, and seem likely to be able to repel anything that the home side throw at them. FCUM’s clearest chances of the first half fall in quick succession to Jerome Wright and Ben Deegan. Wright’s shot is well blocked by the Ferriby goalkeeper, who recovers excellently to stop the follow up from Deegan. Two minutes from half-time, though, Ferriby extend their lead. A ball down the right hand side is perfectly controlled by Russell Fry, who flicks the ball back across the goal for Mark Whitehouse to touch the ball in from close range to double their lead. The half-time whistle blew with FCUM facing their first league defeat since the middle of December.
Whatever manager Karl Marginson says to the players during the half-time break seems to have the desired effect upon the players. FCUM start the second half with renewed purpose and vigour and, for the first time in the match start to properly test the visiting defence. Some clumsy defending sees the ball poked wide to Phil Marsh, and Marsh sends over an inch perfect cross that Deegan can jump for and head comfortably wide of Wilson to pull the score back to 2-1. With the home side now well in control of the game, an equaliser starts to feel inevitable and it isn’t long before it comes. A corner from the right hand side is swung over towards the near post and defender David Chadwick hurls himself at the ball, heading it powerfully into the net to make the score 2-2.
Ferriby are, however, quickly allowed a route back into the match and after seventy-one minutes they retake the lead. The FCUM defence, largely untested in the second half, seems to be half asleep as Davidson gets some space on the right hand side and crosses for Chris Bolder to head in from close range at the far post. Still though, FCUM push forward in the hope of an equaliser and when another cross from the right had side is deflected away from Ben Deegan by a defender’s arm, the referee is quick to point to the penalty spot. Phil Marsh took the resulting penalty, but his shot is a poor one and was comfortably saved by Wilson. With eleven minutes to play, though, history repeats itself. Carlos Roca bursts into the penalty area and is clumsily tripped by Kevin Larvin. Larvin in sent off for his troubles, and this time Ben Deegan makes no mistake, sending Wilson the wrong way to bring the sides level again.
With a one man advantage and late in the game on a heavy, difficult pitch, it would have been unsurprising to see FCUM go on to win the match, but they fail to fully take advantage of their extra man, and even this advantage melts away when Rob Nugent is sent off with four minutes left to play after picking up a second yellow card. At full-time, then, there is a feeling of mixed emotion for the home supporters, who may be relieved at having picked up a point against one of the best teams in their division after having been two goals down at half-time yet still disappointed at the fact that, level at 3-3 and with a (albeit brief) one man advantage, the team couldn’t quite find within themselves to go on and win the match. Still, though, the unbeaten run continues and small possibility of a play-off place at the end of the season will remain just about in view as long as this run continues.
There is really no link to be had between the quality of football to be seen in a match and the notion of the supporter ownership of football clubs. If there was, though, this would have been a pretty good advertisement for it, with six goals, two sendings off, two penalties and a comeback from what seemed like an almost impossible position to rescue a point and preserve an unbeaten run. And all for an entrance fee of £7.50. As prices continue to rise at Old Trafford, Gigg Lane might find that there is a bit more interest in FC United of Manchester matches if this level of entertainment can be maintained through to the end of the season.
The concern that had been aired during the week was that the “Beyond The Debt” rally could be scuppered by the weather. As the tenants at Bury’s Gigg Lane, FC United of Manchester suffer more postponements than most but on Saurday, even though the pitch is in a poor condition, the predicted rain has managed to hold off for long enough to ensure that the game goes ahead. In an exceptionally tight Unibond League Premier Division, FC United have gone from being relegation contenders to being in a position to be able to view the play-offs on the horizon. Five straight wins have taken them into the top half of the table.
Today, though, lies a big challenge. North Ferriby United survive on crowds that are roughly one-tenth the size of the crowd here today, but they are in fourth place in the Unibond League Premier Division with games in hand on all three of the teams above them in the table. They seem likely to grab one of the play-off places and could yet win the Unibond League championship this season. Within five minutes of the start of the match, they have taken the lead. United defender Ludovic Quistin and Davidson tussle for the ball on the right-hand side of the penalty area. It seems that the referee may to penalty to North Ferriby but Quiston wraps his foot around the ball and rolls it wide of Sam Ashton and a foot over the line before it can be scrambled away.
Ferriby are strong and well organised, and seem likely to be able to repel anything that the home side throw at them. FCUM’s clearest chances of the first half fall in quick succession to Jerome Wright and Ben Deegan. Wright’s shot is well blocked by the Ferriby goalkeeper, who recovers excellently to stop the follow up from Deegan. Two minutes from half-time, though, Ferriby extend their lead. A ball down the right hand side is perfectly controlled by Russell Fry, who flicks the ball back across the goal for Mark Whitehouse to touch the ball in from close range to double their lead. The half-time whistle blew with FCUM facing their first league defeat since the middle of December.
Whatever manager Karl Marginson says to the players during the half-time break seems to have the desired effect upon the players. FCUM start the second half with renewed purpose and vigour and, for the first time in the match start to properly test the visiting defence. Some clumsy defending sees the ball poked wide to Phil Marsh, and Marsh sends over an inch perfect cross that Deegan can jump for and head comfortably wide of Wilson to pull the score back to 2-1. With the home side now well in control of the game, an equaliser starts to feel inevitable and it isn’t long before it comes. A corner from the right hand side is swung over towards the near post and defender David Chadwick hurls himself at the ball, heading it powerfully into the net to make the score 2-2.
Ferriby are, however, quickly allowed a route back into the match and after seventy-one minutes they retake the lead. The FCUM defence, largely untested in the second half, seems to be half asleep as Davidson gets some space on the right hand side and crosses for Chris Bolder to head in from close range at the far post. Still though, FCUM push forward in the hope of an equaliser and when another cross from the right had side is deflected away from Ben Deegan by a defender’s arm, the referee is quick to point to the penalty spot. Phil Marsh took the resulting penalty, but his shot is a poor one and was comfortably saved by Wilson. With eleven minutes to play, though, history repeats itself. Carlos Roca bursts into the penalty area and is clumsily tripped by Kevin Larvin. Larvin in sent off for his troubles, and this time Ben Deegan makes no mistake, sending Wilson the wrong way to bring the sides level again.
With a one man advantage and late in the game on a heavy, difficult pitch, it would have been unsurprising to see FCUM go on to win the match, but they fail to fully take advantage of their extra man, and even this advantage melts away when Rob Nugent is sent off with four minutes left to play after picking up a second yellow card. At full-time, then, there is a feeling of mixed emotion for the home supporters, who may be relieved at having picked up a point against one of the best teams in their division after having been two goals down at half-time yet still disappointed at the fact that, level at 3-3 and with a (albeit brief) one man advantage, the team couldn’t quite find within themselves to go on and win the match. Still, though, the unbeaten run continues and small possibility of a play-off place at the end of the season will remain just about in view as long as this run continues.
There is really no link to be had between the quality of football to be seen in a match and the notion of the supporter ownership of football clubs. If there was, though, this would have been a pretty good advertisement for it, with six goals, two sendings off, two penalties and a comeback from what seemed like an almost impossible position to rescue a point and preserve an unbeaten run. And all for an entrance fee of £7.50. As prices continue to rise at Old Trafford, Gigg Lane might find that there is a bit more interest in FC United of Manchester matches if this level of entertainment can be maintained through to the end of the season.
Beyond The Debt – Are You Going To Be A Part Of The Solution?
Source: Twohundred Percent
It was standing room only in the social club at Gigg Lane, Bury on Saturday lunchtime for the “Beyond The Debt” rally as a crowd of hundreds watched an impressive array of those in the know explain that the time for debate on the ownership of football clubs is coming to an end. We seem now to be entering a different time. A time when action is required. A time in which shrugging your shoulders and muttering that, “well, my club is alright” is no longer enough. When opening speaker and rally chair Andy Walsh from FC United of Manchester spoke, he talked of the rivalries between supporters of football clubs being an artificial construct which masked the true enemies of football supporters – the people that run the game itself.
Malcolm Clarke of the Football Supporters Federation was up next, offering a bleak insight into the world of the Football Association Council, an organisation in which two of the one hundred and fourteen members are women, two are from ethnic minorities and, astonishingly, just seven are under the age of fifty. Clarke spoken of his grandchildren and his desire for them to have football clubs to watch, something that coul have seemed unthinkable several years ago but is now something that is starting to raise its head as a possibility for the future. The fundamental issue that the game has to address is the sustainability of its financial model, which, currently, is practically non-existent.
Walsh had already made reference to a letter in the Guardian from a Portsmouth supporter stating that the spirit of Portsmouth Football Club will survive even if the worst happens to the current incarnation of the company that runs the club. Barry Dewy from Pompey Trust spoke of the madness that has engulfed his club over the last twelve months and of the action that is now required to ensure that, even if the worst happens to the current incarnation. They are still treating the ten per cent offered to them by Sulaiman Al-Fahim with a degree of suspicion, but the high take up rate for membership of the trust indicates that, no matter what happens in the future to Portsmouth FC, football in the city will continue, somehow and somewhere.
One occasional criticism of football supporters used to be that, while they criticised those that ran the game, they couldn’t offer an alternative to the status quo. When they did offer an alternative, it was claimed that this non-profit alternative couldn’t work at bigger clubs. The need to counter every argument that is put in the way of this movement remains, and Stuart Dykes, a fan worker from the German club Schalke 04, makes the argument that anybody that believes that supporter ownership of clubs can’t work should come to Germany to see clear evidence to the contrary. Clubs are owned under the “fifty plus one” rule, which means that fifty per cent of shares plus one vote for the club must always be held by the club itself. The net result of this is that German football is more competitive and with gate prices that would make supporters of Premier League clubs weep. Standing tickets at Schalke, he explains, cost €13 (£12).
Last up is Dave Boyle from Supporters Direct. Boyle makes the point that for as long as people within football continue to underestimate football supporters, the supporters will continue to beat them and that supporters should, in a general election year, put pressure on those standing for election to make a commitment to supporting our cause. We then wrap up with a Q&A session, during which one crowd member – not an FC United supporter – says quite plainly thaat he has been convinced of the potential power of the supporters trust movement. And why shouldn’t he have been? The arguments that have been put forward have been logical yet heartfelt.
The feeling that one comes away from a meeting like this is that it is now time for a tectonic shift in attitude. It is no longer good enough to say that there is a “debate” to be had about the merits of one model of football club ownership over another. The time for action has already come, and the protests at Manchester United and Chester City demonstrate that ordinary supporters, who want no more than to watch a football team that they can be proud of, have, quite simply, had enough. And with that, we head for the warmth of a bar to watch the second half of the match between Chelsea and Manchester City. Millions of people – possibly hundreds of millions of people – have tuned in to see whether Wayne Bridge will shake John Terry’s hand or not. It’s a circus. It flashes by on the screen and it looks like football, but something in the series of images that flash before me doesn’t compute. At the end of the match, it’s time to get out and into Gigg Lane for FC United’s match. There are flags everywhere, and constant singing throughout the entire ninety minutes. It’s time to decide whether you are going to be a part of the problem, or whether you are going to be a part of the solution.
It was standing room only in the social club at Gigg Lane, Bury on Saturday lunchtime for the “Beyond The Debt” rally as a crowd of hundreds watched an impressive array of those in the know explain that the time for debate on the ownership of football clubs is coming to an end. We seem now to be entering a different time. A time when action is required. A time in which shrugging your shoulders and muttering that, “well, my club is alright” is no longer enough. When opening speaker and rally chair Andy Walsh from FC United of Manchester spoke, he talked of the rivalries between supporters of football clubs being an artificial construct which masked the true enemies of football supporters – the people that run the game itself.
Malcolm Clarke of the Football Supporters Federation was up next, offering a bleak insight into the world of the Football Association Council, an organisation in which two of the one hundred and fourteen members are women, two are from ethnic minorities and, astonishingly, just seven are under the age of fifty. Clarke spoken of his grandchildren and his desire for them to have football clubs to watch, something that coul have seemed unthinkable several years ago but is now something that is starting to raise its head as a possibility for the future. The fundamental issue that the game has to address is the sustainability of its financial model, which, currently, is practically non-existent.
Walsh had already made reference to a letter in the Guardian from a Portsmouth supporter stating that the spirit of Portsmouth Football Club will survive even if the worst happens to the current incarnation of the company that runs the club. Barry Dewy from Pompey Trust spoke of the madness that has engulfed his club over the last twelve months and of the action that is now required to ensure that, even if the worst happens to the current incarnation. They are still treating the ten per cent offered to them by Sulaiman Al-Fahim with a degree of suspicion, but the high take up rate for membership of the trust indicates that, no matter what happens in the future to Portsmouth FC, football in the city will continue, somehow and somewhere.
One occasional criticism of football supporters used to be that, while they criticised those that ran the game, they couldn’t offer an alternative to the status quo. When they did offer an alternative, it was claimed that this non-profit alternative couldn’t work at bigger clubs. The need to counter every argument that is put in the way of this movement remains, and Stuart Dykes, a fan worker from the German club Schalke 04, makes the argument that anybody that believes that supporter ownership of clubs can’t work should come to Germany to see clear evidence to the contrary. Clubs are owned under the “fifty plus one” rule, which means that fifty per cent of shares plus one vote for the club must always be held by the club itself. The net result of this is that German football is more competitive and with gate prices that would make supporters of Premier League clubs weep. Standing tickets at Schalke, he explains, cost €13 (£12).
Last up is Dave Boyle from Supporters Direct. Boyle makes the point that for as long as people within football continue to underestimate football supporters, the supporters will continue to beat them and that supporters should, in a general election year, put pressure on those standing for election to make a commitment to supporting our cause. We then wrap up with a Q&A session, during which one crowd member – not an FC United supporter – says quite plainly thaat he has been convinced of the potential power of the supporters trust movement. And why shouldn’t he have been? The arguments that have been put forward have been logical yet heartfelt.
The feeling that one comes away from a meeting like this is that it is now time for a tectonic shift in attitude. It is no longer good enough to say that there is a “debate” to be had about the merits of one model of football club ownership over another. The time for action has already come, and the protests at Manchester United and Chester City demonstrate that ordinary supporters, who want no more than to watch a football team that they can be proud of, have, quite simply, had enough. And with that, we head for the warmth of a bar to watch the second half of the match between Chelsea and Manchester City. Millions of people – possibly hundreds of millions of people – have tuned in to see whether Wayne Bridge will shake John Terry’s hand or not. It’s a circus. It flashes by on the screen and it looks like football, but something in the series of images that flash before me doesn’t compute. At the end of the match, it’s time to get out and into Gigg Lane for FC United’s match. There are flags everywhere, and constant singing throughout the entire ninety minutes. It’s time to decide whether you are going to be a part of the problem, or whether you are going to be a part of the solution.
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