Football needs to save itself

Football needs an “independent regulatory authority” according to the co-founder of the Football Supporters Association.

Dr Rogan Taylor, speaking at an event at Bramall Lane on Friday which I was lucky enough to attend, was asked, what he thought the best action the game could take in regards to increasing debt levels was.

“I think the answer has to be an independent regulatory authority and it is the fit and proper persons element that is key.

“Nobody asks what are you going to do with Portsmouth? What’s the plan? Where’s the money? How will you sustain the expenditure you are outlining to us? Those are the questions that need asking and that sorts out the cowboys from the sensible businessmen.”

I could not agree with Dr Taylor further. Football has reached a point where if it continues to travel down the path it is on currently then it will kill itself off. Clubs will continue to be badly run, players will continue to be given free rein and fans will continue to be the group that suffer the most.

Portsmouth is the highest profile example of how football clubs can so easily implode but there are others, just look at Chester City, now no longer in existence because of the way the club was run.

In Germany it is illegal for any private individual to own more than 49 per cent of a football club. Dr Taylor and others present at the event highlighted this as a move that they would love to see come into the English game. It would stop what happened at Portsmouth happening again and would probably help to even the playing field a bit as well.

The Bundesliga is one of the most competitive and financially stable leagues in the world. Bayern Munich for example has made a profit for each of the last 14 years, a far cry from the reports of clubs like Manchester United, currently in something like 750 million pounds of debt.

However we all know that football, especially in Britain has lost its moral compass and now has only money as its master, not the well being of the sport and certainly not the concerns of the fans.

I appreciate that the Premier League is one of the best in the world in terms of quality but it is not competitive, only four teams have ever won it, and it is certainly not financially healthy. Player’s wages are too high, leaking money straight out of the game and it is the fans who pay the price in the form of extortionate ticket prices and merchandise.

Something needs to be done before the whole thing comes crashing down. Sadly I can’t see anyone making that all important first move.