THE STATE OF THE GAME 2005 BY KEV MONKS
With just over a week of 2005 left, The Football Governance Research Centre at the Birbeck College in London have produced their annual State Of The Game report.
This eighty eight page document was complied from questionnaires sent to all 92 Premiership and Football League clubs plus supporters groups including Supporters Trusts.
Although clubs on the whole felt that their situation was not as bad as this time last year, almost all the Football League clubs felt that greater redistribution of television revenue would aid their current financial position.
What was also highlighted in this well produced report by the team at the Birkbeck College in London, was the difficulty clubs having in talking to their supporters.
73% of clubs found it moderately difficult to consult or maintain a dialogue with fans and a 23% rise from 2003. Shareholders also suffered the same fate with 63% of clubs finding it difficult to consult with their shareholders.
The Sky Blue Trust have implemented a Joint Liaison Council scheme which despite having met only once at the time of writing, is a step in the direction. Of course, the club has met supporters and supporters groups over the years but at a time when the club needs every penny it can get, a good dialogue with its supporters is always positive.
The Customer Charter was another area many clubs have difficult complying with. 72% of clubs found it moderately difficult, compared to 57% percent in 2001 although 86% claimed it was effective.
Supporters Trusts were seen by the report as an excellent way forward. In fact, the clubs named the number one priority of a Trust as being there to promote support for the club. However, it was not seen that way by supporters. The Trusts said that involving supporters in the running/directing of the club was their top priority, followed by strengthening bonds between the club and community.
Apart from the Football Conference and Manchester United where fans had their own reasons to join their Trust, membership of a trust as a percentage of an average home gate was generally around the one percent mark with Sky Blue Trust membership on the same scale as that at Aston Villa, Arsenal, Leeds and Wolves.
Conclusions drawn by the report are the need for good governance with the football authorities doing more to support the clubs to achieve this. Broadcasting revenues should be split equally with money going to the lower leagues and grass roots football, whilst use of the fit and proper person tests needs to be maximised.
The Premiership comes in for some criticism with the game described as being at a cross roads by the Chief Executive of the Premier League. The “Chelsea effect” or one club with many millions to spend, has not helped matters and the lack of competitive balance deemed as getting worse.
Increasing ticket prices is deemed by the report as not the way for clubs to grow and consolidate fan bases. The report states “ever since Lord Justice Taylor ruled that such rises should not occur, the increase of ticket prices has had a cumulative effect. “
Certainly this is true at a local level. It is fair to say that the prices for season tickets for City’s first season at the Arena were not as attractive as they could have been and that the club have suffered subsequently by not selling the numbers they were hoping for. Hopefully with the penny pinching Graham Hover out of the club, City supporters may now have the chance to have a say in the price setting process.
Hopefully, the clubs will take some notice of the findings and the state of the game this time next year may have improved.