Supporters Direct Press release: 05/06/2014
Responding to today’s Deloitte annual review of football finance, Supporters Direct issued the following statement:
It is very difficult to argue that more money for football is a bad thing. However, we hope and expect that this significant increase will also result in more in absolute terms for two different but connected parts of our national game:
Clubs below the Premier League
At a time where clubs in the Championship and the rest of The Football League are expected to operate in a more financially responsible manner, whilst at the same time seeing falls in income, it is vital that more financial support is provided. If it is not, competitive balance remains at risk.
The grassroots game
We believe that some of this new money needs to find its way to the park pitches and development outside of the existing Premier League funded EPPP (Academy) structure. Only by supporting the development of coaches, players and facilities will we be able to produce the stars of the future.
As the support for the recent #SayNoToLeague3 campaign has shown, fans and campaigners from the top of our game to the bottom recognise that our game is a pyramid, where clubs, and our game, are interdependent, and rise and fall on merit. We have a pyramid that operates right from the park-pitch to the Premier League, and this must be nurtured.
We hope you will join us to explore these issues further at our Supporters Summit on July 26th, along with the FSF
Five things you can do:
1. You can sign up for the Supporters Summit via a specially dedicated website:www.supporterssummitt.co.uk
2. You can watch a video about Damian Collin's Football Governance Reform Bill via his You Tube Channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T8QonHpu9s and ask for your MP to support it via www.writetothem.com
3. You can sign and share the #SayNoToLeague3 petition via: http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/football-association-say-no-to-b-teams
4. You can read SD's submission to the Dyke Commission www.supporters-direct.org/homepage/research/policy/response-to-the-fa-chairmans-commission
5. You can read the FSF's submission to the Dyke Commission www.fsf.org.uk/assets/Downloads/Misc/2014/England-Commission-FSF-evidence.pdf
If you would like to read the Deloitte Report it can be found here:
http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_GB/uk/industries/sportsbusinessgroup/sports/football/annual-review-of-football-finance/index.htm
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