Source: PA
Quinn wants fans to fall back in love with game
Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has told MPs that football agents and taxes are helping to take the game away from the people who pay to watch it.
The Irishman attended the first of a series of fans' forums on Monday night in an effort to lure stay-away supporters back to the Stadium of Light in the wake of his outspoken criticism of those instead watching home games on illegal broadcasts in Wearside pubs and clubs.
On Tuesday, he was giving evidence to a House of Commons Select Committee inquiry into football governance and insisted clubs like his need help if they are to balance the books while making it less expensive for fans to attend games.
Quinn said: "I think we should all look for something that says 'How can we help this group of people out to still stay in love with the game?', because if we send the matches abroad with empty stadiums, it's over, the Premier League is over.
"These [people] are the lifeblood of the game. How do we protect these [people]? All revenue that comes in, the agents have the upper hand to squeeze it out of us.
"How can we stop that? How can we find a better way for these people to love the game? These are the same people who tell us to 'get your chequebook out', want us to be top six. They're also saying now 'you're paying too much money. This is wrong'. But they're also saying 'can we go to the matches a bit cheaper?'"
