Art might be important, but it's no football

FSF Deputy Chair Jon Keen asks why we don't protect clubs in the same way we do art?

On display at the Lowry Centre in Manchester is a classic painting by LS Lowry, Going to the Match, which is owned by the Professional Footballers’ Association and shows expectant supporters on their way to a game at Bolton’s old ground, Burnden Park.  The PFA purchased this in 1999 for £1.9 million, at a time when it was under threat of purchase by a foreign owner and export to the USA. This isn’t a rant about how the PFA spends their money, though.  That’s entirely up to them. 

Instead, the story of this painting is a perfect example of how to solve one of the many things going wrong with our national game at the moment.  No-one would deny that works of art like this are vital part of our cultural and national heritage –and so if someone from overseas wants to purchase what are deemed “cultural goods considered to be of outstanding national importance” then they must apply for an export licence before the transaction can be completed.  And there are many examples where this permission has been refused for items of national importance.

By any criteria I can see, a football team is just as much a part of our cultural and national heritage as any work of art is.  Far more people are far more passionate about their football team than they are about any painting or statue, no matter how worthwhile it might be – so why is such legal protection afforded to one part of our heritage and culture while at the same time anybody from anywhere can buy one of our football clubs.

Not that there’s anything wrong with foreign ownership as such – if anything, it’s inappropriate ownership that’s the real problem, and people purchasing clubs for the wrong motives can come from anywhere in the world, including Britain.  But the sheer scale of the sums required for the purchase of Premier League clubs these days means these are beyond all but a few Brits.

But the sad truth is that whenever a club is purchased, there are no checks or controls in place – the only test applied is whether they have enough money.  And it needn’t even be their own money, too, as the Glazers proved when buying Manchester United on tick.  What was one of the best-run football clubs in the world is now saddled with a debt of £764 million – debt which is now being passed onto United’s supporters. 

And the worst irony of all in about this takeover is that the only sports authority in the world which made any checks on it was the US National Football League, whose rules require them to check that one of their owners wasn’t over-extending himself or pledging too much debt on one of the NFL teams. But from English football authorities?  Zilch, of course!

Chelsea is similarly lumbered with a massive debt of £578 million, which has been loaned - not given - by Roman Abramovich.   And the megabucks takeover of Manchester City, with new owners who seem determined to “out-Abramovic” Abramovic, takes this one stage further. 

But whether City have this wealth donated or whether it sits on their books as a massively unrealistic debt, one thing is true for these clubs and many others - every pound that comes in from abroad takes that club a little bit further away from its supporter and its traditional community. And that, like a painting that is sold and taken abroad, take away a little bit of our national and cultural heritage and we’re all that little bit worse off – and this is felt most of all by the supporters and community of that club itself.

So surely the time has come to put in place some effective rules to control the ownership of our football clubs – not just who can own them, but how they run their finances.  These have to include measures to guarantee that clubs will be run as sustainable businesses, with a long-term future, and not as a rich- man’s plaything, which he could drop at any time. 

And at the same time, how about some safeguards to ensure that each clubs’ supporters and community are genuinely involved in the club’s running, instead of being at best marginalised and at worst exploited.

Comments

[Andy]

The commercial genie was let a long time ago and I suspect it won’t go back. I suspect this soul searching over commercialization is only happening amongst the fans.

I agree with the last comment if you want to support a proper community club you’ll have to trade the glamour of the Premier League for an authentic experience at a lower league club.

And protecting football clubs in the same way as important national art!? A few million for a turner is little different then 400 for say Newcastle Utd. The choice would be Newcastle Utd or a new hospital. I know which I’d prefer.

[Guernican]

Well. Lots and lots of different ideas in here, all dressed up as one coherent article.

First of all... protecting football clubs as we do art. I don't understand. Are you suggesting that the government should buy them with Lottery money before they're sold? It's a completely misleading analogy. If a club is failing / bankrupt / whatever, the only solution is for an individual / consortium / whatever to buy them. Banks, in the current climate? Nonsense. It's not easy to make money out of football clubs, as 15 out of the 20 Premier League clubs will no doubt tell you. Next point please.

Fit and proper... well, one man's oligarch is another man's club saviour is another man's robber baron is another man's sheikh in control of an unpleasant and oppressive Islamic emirate. If a sheikh can run an emirate. If not, substitute emir for sheikh. Either way, Man City fans have now had 2 extremely dubious characters in charge in the past 12 months and have welcomed both with open arms. It seems that your perspective may be an issue here - not necessarily because you're wrong, but because lots of supporters may disagree with you.

Finally, your point about foreign money taking it away from its community. Well, yes. Two parts to that one, really. As clubs clamour for "global brands" - Chelsea touring Korea and China, United taking a million for a one-off game in Nigeria, etc ad nauseam - it's only natural that the once-vital link with those supporters that live a matter of miles from the ground is diluted. But then, for the Big Four it's been that way for some time. I know more London-based Liverpool supporters than I know Scouse ones. We've been laughing at Surrey Reds for years... why? Because they're a cliched truism. When Arsenal play at home, watch the trains coming in to Kings Cross from Peterborough, Bedford and so on. Red and white everywhere. Isn't it time to admit that this national and cultural heritage that you seem so fond of is gone... long gone, in fact, and it started going at about the time the Premier League was formed?

If you're interested in local clubs with local identity, cultural heritage and all the things that we've lost from the top flight, then bite the bullet and support a League One team.