Barrow MP backs reboot of national game and urges The Bluebirds to sign up
‘Football is so important to the people of Barrow. Fair Game wants to ensure that clubs will be there for the long term and I fully support that’’
Simon Fell, MP for Barrow
THE Barrow MP Simon Fell today backed Fair Game and urged Barrow AFC to jump on board too. Fair Game is a group of 31 value-driven football clubs, including fellow Cumbrian side Carlisle United, hoping to change our national game for the better.
The group is supported by 40 world-renowned experts and recently outlined its final proposals in the 48-page document Putting Pride Back In The Shirt.
Central to the proposals is a Sustainability Index which looks at reallocating the parachute payments to clubs throughout the football pyramid that can prove they are run well, respect equality standards and properly engage with their fans and their community.
Fair Game also believes fans should be given the final say on any proposed change to a club’s ‘crown jewels’, which includes the club’s name, nickname, colours, badge and the geographical location of where the club plays.
The timing coincides with the Government’s Football Governance Review being led by the Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, which is expected to publish its final report in the next couple of weeks.
Simon Fell said: “Football is so important to the people of Barrow. Fair Game wants to ensure that clubs will be there for the long term and I fully support that.
“We need to move towards a funding model that rewards and incentivises well-run clubs. At the moment a club relegated from the Premier League gets £55m - that’s more than all the clubs in League One and League Two put together.
“Let’s reallocate that and ring-fence it so that most of that money goes to the excellent work clubs do in the community. That is ethical capitalism.
“The Conservative party pledged to deliver change and we reiterated that after the debacle of the European Super League.
“Properly embedding football in the communities is the root to safeguarding the future of our clubs and is at the very heart of Fair Game’s ethos – that makes sense to me and I urge Barrow AFC to join them.”
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, said: “I cannot thank Simon Fell enough for his support. This really is the moment to transform our national game.
“Fair Game want fans to be able to walk down the street wearing their team shirt proud in everything it stands for and safe in the knowledge that their club will be there for the long term.
“Tracey Crouch has opened the door to a bright new future and with Simon Fell’s backing, the chance of her hard work coming to fruition has just moved a step closer.”
