Campaign to radically reform football governance backed by Shropshire Council

Councillors unanimously voted to support the Fair Game campaign at a meeting on Thursday, following an impassioned speech from leader Lezley Picton.

As well as the key role the county’s clubs play in the lives of their supporters, Councillor Picton said the financial boost they bring to the county’s economy could not be overstated.

As a result of the vote, the council will lobby the Minister for Sport, Shropshire MPs, and the chair of the Local Government Association’s culture, tourism and sport board for new regulations to be brought in to prevent clubs being mismanaged.

The council will also encourage other authorities to join it in supporting the aims of the Fair Game manifesto.

Proposing the motion, Councillor Picton said: “I know what it’s like, what that heartache is like, when your football club is badly managed – mismanaged – and in my case, as a proud Portsmouth supporter, twice.”

She said it was estimated that a League One club brings in around £10 million a year to its local economy, but that in the case of Shrewsbury Town this was closer to £14 million, plus up to £7 million in ‘social value’.

Councillor Picton said: “These days football is used to improve inclusivity, to improve mental health, to improve fitness and combat loneliness, to improve confidence and get people back into work, and to help people who have found education a challenge.

“Football is being used as a real positive – positive for individuals, communities and society – and you only have to look at the brilliant outreach programmes that are offered by all of our football clubs across the county to see how important they are to their communities.

“But what happens when this goes wrong? Following the pandemic, many teams outside the Premier League are struggling financially, and if you add mismanagement into that, you have a situation that could threaten the very existence of the club.”

Councillor Picton said if anything went wrong with a Shropshire club there would be implications for the council as it would be called upon by fans to step in and provide support.

She added: “I’m not saying for one minute that any of our football clubs are financially mismanaged, in fact it’s the opposite, but they need the football wealth to be spread more fairly through the leagues.

“I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that only in the last couple of days there has been significant concern around Shrewsbury Town. The statement released on Tuesday said they have lost £2.3 million in the last two years – and yet the Premier League owes them money.”

A number of councillors also spoke in support of the motion.

Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton councillor Tony Parsons said many wealthy football club owners see them as a “trophy”, adding: “This is a very serious situation right across the country for many football clubs.

“What’s being proposed from the Fair Game proposal will help to support football clubs and assist the fans and the communities.”

Oswestry West councillor Mike Isherwood said: “I don’t think it would apply to Oswestry’s local team (The New Saints) as they play in the Welsh league, but they are a very successful team and, importantly, their charity arm the TNS Foundation is at the heart of the community, especially in providing youth services that the town council commissions, and also holiday activities.

“So many things just would not happen without them.

“We should do everything we can to support local football teams because some of them are in a precarious financial position.

“It seems that if you don’t have a billionaire Saudi owner or some Hollywood film stars to put money in then things can be quite dicey.”