How the FA and the Premier League are failing grassroots fans

Bury FC have been expelled from the football league. Bolton Wanderers have two weeks grace, before they too are booted out. Both clubs have been the victims of gross financial mismanagement. i have no allegiance to either club. I've not seen either club play, but as an avid football fan, I have a deep empathy with the struggle of both sets of fans.

Being a fan is not all glory, for most it's tears and cold pies

For the record, I am a lifelong Manchester City FC fan. I've seen massive highs, both in the 1960's/70's and in the modern era. I've also seen the bad times in the third tier. I was at the 1999 playoff final where City overcame Gillingham, having been 2-0 down in the 89th minute, to see them level in injury time. They went on to win on penalties. Seeing your club relegated, lose games they should win, see your favourite player leave to play for your biggest enemy, etc is all part of the life of a football fan. You grit your teeth, you draw your curtains and you watch old episodes of The Sweeney on Gold to take your mind off the misery that your team has inflicted.

What has happened to Bolton and Bury is completely different. To find over a century of history thrown in the dustbin due to financial problems is something that, as one of the people who pay to run football, a completely different matter. Fans of both clubs have paid their dues. Both clubs are part of a regulated league. The FA requires 'fit and proper' people' to run clubs. There are 'financial fair play' rules. But the FA has failed as a regulator. You can't have a game of football with just one team. every other club in the leagues that Bolton and Bury play in are stakeholders. Every other club will lose a days money. Financial problems within football clubs are nothing new. However the huge amounts of money sloshing around in the game are. There is no justification for closing clubs down, when there is ample money in the game to save them.

But the problem is not just one of saving them, the FA and the Premier League should not allow any club to operate at a deficit, except for very exceptional circumstances, such as disasters, etc. Clubs should lodge business plans and projections on an annual basis. They should lodge accounts with the FA and they should all pay a levy, to support clubs who get into financial distress. If an owner fails to manage a club and they get into difficulty, they should lose their interest. The FA should then reconstitute a club, under a system similar to administration. The FA should manage the debts, then appoint a management team. A distress fund should support the club for a six month period, to allow restructuring. This would allow a new structure to be set up to manage the finances on a realistic basis. If the gate & TV income won't support the squad, those players should be exempt from transfer window rules. The club should also be allowed to recruit players from lower leagues on lower wages, to replace any departing player. Young managers should be given an opportunity to ply their trade.

I think that each division should have a 'nominal maximum wage' for players. This should be the amount that any club is allowed to pay a player. This should be based on a realistic assessment of what the league can support. If  a club cannot meet these commitments, based on its income, then they should not be able to play in that division. Relegated clubs, should be given exemptions based on parachute payments, but generally if there were 'model club rules' then the types of problems Bury and Bolton are experiencing could be avoided at source.

What should not happen is that a bunch of stuffed suits in the FA to destroy the dreams of fans who have spent a lifetime paying into football, buying season tickets, travelling to away games, buying programmes, club strips and cold pies. It is only really the fans who are being punished, the one group of people who have done nothing wrong. The players will find other clubs, the business owners will take a tax write off. What other business punishes the customers when something goes wrong? If your bank goes bust, the financial protection scheme guarantees your savings, if your travel company goes bust, the ABTA bond gets you home. If you were missold PPI, you get a telephone call and a couple of grand. But if you are a football fan and your club gets into difficulties, the FA shaft you. That cannot be right.