The plight of English football in general and that of Coventry City in particular was debated in the House of Commons yesterday.
The debate saw two of Coventry’s MP’s engage in a heated argument over the situation Coventry City find themselves in.
Geoffrey Robinson, a former director of the club and now MP for Coventry North West, accused fellow Coventry MP Bob Ainsworth (Coventry North East) of disrupting the atmosphere needed for successful talks over the future of the football club and its return to the city from its exile playing ‘homes games’ in Northampton.
Mr Ainsworth replied to the criticism by Mr Robinson by reminding him that he bore some responsibility for the current plight of the club when he was a director of the club.
Mr Robinson said, “I am glad to hear my right honourable friend speaking with such passion on an area that we have not seen him taking an interest in at all for many, many years. Where he and I would utterly agree is that we want to get the club back to Coventry.
‘‘That means that we have to create a new sense of good will between the various parties that, at the moment, are locked in the most antagonistic struggle that I have seen in many years, and that I have certainly never seen in Coventry before.
“It cannot be just one-sided, there are always two sides. I ask him this; does he really think it helps to get the atmosphere that we want, and to get the club back, when he launches these bitter personal attacks on Joy Seppala on one side?”
Mr Ainsworth was not impressed and dismissed the accusation of being one sided.
He said, ”Saying that I have paid no attention to this area in the past, provokes me into letting people know that he was the steward of the club.
“His stewardship may have been part of the reason why I was silent in the past, but I am relieved of that responsibility now that he is no longer connected with the club, and I am free to speak on a matter that concerns a major business in my constituency.
“I am not bitter about Joy Seppala. Most of the things that I have said, she has said herself on the record. I am bitter about the Football League, which has allowed this to happen.
‘‘I think it is outrageous and unforgivable that it has done so, and its governance of our national game needs to be looked at because of what it has allowed these owners to get away with.”
The Minister for Sport, Helen Grant also spoke during the debate and promised to apply pressure to the football authorities to make changes to the whole issue of club ownership and to make everything more transparent as well as enforcing changes as to who is permitted to own and run football clubs.
Jim Cunningham, MP for Coventry South East spoke out in favour of a complete reformation of English football, claiming the current structure is “inadequate” and “out of date”. He went on to say better regulation of the Football League is required as fans from across the country have been taken for a ride and that almost every club had their own problems with a huge number of them caused by poor governance.
Mr Cunningham said in the debate, “To deal with the situation at Coventry, you’ve got to look at the Football League and you’ve got to consider some sort of regulation or some legal framework of sorts. They’ve had a free hand now for many, many years. ‘We’ve seen what’s happened to other clubs up and down the country. That isn’t satisfactory.
“The fans have been taken for a ride here with some of these football clubs and some of these football owners and I think it’s about time now the Government stepped in to this. As I’ve already said, a problem not just for Coventry. I am aware that almost every football club in the country has their own problems.
“I believe what has happened in Coventry has been exceptionally inadequate but there are a good number of cases of poor football governance. It is clear to me what’s happened at Coventry is not an anomaly.
‘‘The institutions of domestic football governance are inadequate and are out of date and need to be seriously reformed.”
Mr Cunningham concluded, “To deal with the situation at Coventry and to prevent it happening in the future we need to look at the Football League and do something about it.”
Source: Coventry MAD
Source: FOOTYMAD
