Leeds United supporter representative to tell sports minister: Football reform should come from bottom up - Yorkshire Post 30/6/23
A group representing Leeds United supporters will ask sports minister Stuart Andrew to take a "bottom up" approach to the Government's long-awaited football reforms.
By Stuart Rayner
Clive Miers, vice-chairman of Leeds United Supporters
Network (LUSN), will meet Andrew (pictured) one-to-one on Friday to discuss plans
to implement all 10 key recommendations of a fan-led review into English
football by Conservative MP Tracey Crouch published in late 2021.
These included a proposal for an independent regulator,
greater powers for supporters and an improved “owners and director’s test”. She
also suggested clubs have “shadow boards” of supporters that allow more input
into decision-making.
The Government promised reforms in its 2019 general election
manifesto but a pandemic and two changes of prime minister mean it has so far
only progressed as far as the White Paper published in February it is now
consulting on.
LUSN, a self-financed body representing around 38
independent fans groups totaling 8,000-9,000 members, was not part of Crouch's
consultations, which focused on larger groups including the Football Supporters
Association. Miers wants wide-ranging shadow boards.
"It's important they are established in such a way as
to fulfil their objectives of engaging between supporters and the club,"
he argues. “How are these boards going to be constructed? They say members
should be representative of the fanbase but only the clubs have the
demographics.
"It's essential members shouldn't accept any largesse
from the clubs and clubs shouldn't be able to dictate who goes on or gets
withdrawn.
"My fear – not necessarily the organisation's – is
you've got to look to where the money comes from and the Football Supporters
Association are basically funded by the Football Association and the Premier
League, around 90 per cent.
"At the moment I see nothing to be concerned about but
in the future, who knows? Money doesn't necessarily corrupt but it influences.
"Minutes are a big problem. At the last Leeds United
SAB (supporters advisory board) they talked about season tickets. I assume a
few members said a 10 per cent increase (in prices) is a little bit too much
but there was only a sentence about that, then something the length of the
Gettysburg Address outlining why. Most were fallacies but there was no one
challenging it.
"Very importantly, the SAB should have a postal address
and be contactable on all social media with details prominent on the club
website. The SAB came under a lot of criticism towards the end of the last
regime because nobody knew who they were and how to contact them."
Leeds relaunched their SAB before the 2021-22 season, ahead
of Crouch's report and many of their then-Premier League counterparts.
