Shropshire Council backs Fair Game’s call for a fairer financial flow in football

“Following the pandemic, many teams outside the Premier League are struggling financially. Football wealth needs to be spread more fairly through the leagues.”

Cllr Lezley Picton, leader of Shropshire Council

FAIR Game are delighted to announce that Shropshire Council are now officially a Fair Game council. The Conservative-controlled authority voted unanimously in favour of backing our campaign, becoming the ninth council in England to do so.

Shropshire Council are the local authority for Fair Game club Shrewsbury Town and 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, Council leader Cllr Lezley 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.”

Cllr Picton, who pointed out that an average League One club brings in around £10m a year to its local economy plus up to £7m of ‘social value’, added: “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.”

Cllr 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.”

Niall Couper, the CEO of Fair Game, welcomed the news:

“There is a real cross-party momentum building to change the future of football. Cllr Picton’s speech should be an inspiration to politicians across England and Wales.

“Football has the ability to support communities and now is the time to deliver real long-lasting change.

“We need a fairer financial flow in football that rewards well-run clubs and creates a culture that embeds the link between community and club.

“Shropshire Council’s vote is the latest step on that journey and my heart-felt thanks on behalf of the 33 clubs of Fair Game goes to them. I hope that it inspires many other councils to follow suit.”

A number of councillors also spoke in support of the motion. Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton Cllr 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 Fair Game will help to support football clubs and assist the fans and the communities.”

Oswestry West Cllr Mike Isherwood said:

“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.”