Labour Leader is today (Mon 7th) calling
for football fans to be given a much greater say in how their
clubs are run, promising that a Labour government would empower
fans and communities and review football governance.
The Labour Leader recently (Sat 5th) met Newcastle United
Football Club fans campaigning against the club’s owner Mike
Ashley. Under Labour’s plans, football supporters’ trusts would
be able to purchase shares when clubs change hands and have the
power to appoint, and fire, at least two members of a club’s
board of directors.
Labour has also pledged to review fan participation in sports
governance at all levels, and ensure that the Premier League
invests 5 per cent of the income it receives for television
rights into grassroots football to improve facilities and pitches
and support the next generation of players and coaches.
has also called on football
clubs to pay the Living Wage to all staff, and praised football
fans for initiatives such as Fans Supporting Foodbanks.
Labour’s Community Organising Unit is currently working with
Newcastle United Football Club fans to organise against
billionaire owner Mike Ashley, with thousands of fans boycotting
the club’s games in protest against Ashley.
Labour will:
· Legislate to give supporters trusts the power to appoint and
remove at least two members of a club’s board of directors;
· Legislate to enable supporters trusts to purchase shares when
clubs change hands;
· Review all aspects of football governance, including fan
participation;
· Ensure that the Premier League invests 5 per cent of income
from television rights into grassroots football;
· Enforce anti-bot legislation to crackdown on ticket-tout
websites selling tickets at vastly inflated prices, and implement
the recommendations of the Waterson Review;
· Ban zero-hours contracts and guarantee a Living Wage of at
least £10 per hour for all staff, including those working at
football stadia on match days;
· Add women’s sporting events including the Women’s Football
World up, to the list of key sporting events to be broadcast
free-to-air;
· Improve access provision for disabled sports fans by ensuring
that rapid improvements are made and by prioritising action to
make clubs comply with obligations under the 2010 Equality Act.
Speaking after the meeting, Leader of the Labour Party said:
“A football club is more than just a club, it is an institution
at the heart of our communities. Clubs are part of the social
fabric that binds us together.
“They are too important to be left in the hands of bad owners
like Mike Ashley who put their business interests ahead of
everything else, marginalise supporters and even put the
financial security of clubs at risk.
“Sport must be run in the interests of those who participate in
it, follow it and love it, not just for the privileged and
wealthy few. We will ensure that supporters have a say over how
their club is run and review how fans can have more of a say
about how all of our sporting bodies are run.
“Under a Labour government the Premier League riches will be used
to invest in grassroots football for the good of all our
communities, fans will be protected from rip-off online ticket
touts and staff who work at football clubs will get security and
a living wage.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
· on why Mike Ashley should be
worried about him becoming Prime Minister.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/jeremy-corbyn-mike-ashley-should-12921213
· attacks Sports Direct boss
Mike Ashley over zero hours contracts.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/jeremy-corbyn-attacks-sports-direct-13581528
· Football governance needs to change. Labour will give
supporters the opportunity to have a greater say in how their
clubs are run.
https://labour.org.uk/press/tom-watson-comments-deadlines-bury-fc-bolton-wanderers-complete-sale/
· Operating mostly in held-back towns and post-industrial and
coastal areas of the UK, Labour’s community organisers are
building campaigns by activists and other community members to
win local struggles on key issues – such as pay and conditions at
major employers, rip-off service-providers and exploitative
landlords and lenders. The next Labour government will build on
these successes with national policies like the national £10
living wage and strengthened renters’ rights. Labour members in
Doncaster have worked with the community to end rip-off lending
by the rent-to-own firm BrightHouse. In Lancaster and Morecombe,
activists have set up food clubs that distribute food that would
otherwise go to waste to club members who pay a low subscription
fee.
