[Archived] Fans not Numbers

[Crimpshrine]

 

[K-Hod]

Nice sentiments and also good use of Brick Top from Snatch. 

Still, I can't see anything changing at the top while folk are getting paid....

[Crimpshrine]

Fans Not Numbers, is a series five regional events giving fans like you a national platform to:

*Hear a positive call for reform in football governance*
*Join the national debate to re-shape football’s future*
*Be heard as Supporters Direct and SKINS take the findings to government*

The roadshows will all feature contributions from SKINS Chairman Jaimie Fuller and Blackpool Supporters Trust, and will be hosted by a Supporters Trust in each region. 

EVENT DETAILS

Blackpool (in conjunction with Blackpool Supporters' Trust): Tuesday 5th September

Manchester (in conjunction with Manchester United Supporters' Trust): Wednesday 6th September

Darlington (in conjunction with Darlington FC Supporters' Group): Thursday 7th September

Coventry (in conjunction with The Sky Blue Trust): Wednesday 13th September

London (in conjunction with Leyton Orient Fans' Trust): Thursday 14th September

[USABlue]

Nice sentiment.and so true but the suits don't get it, they don't want to get it.  Mugs to them is all we are.

[Crimpshrine]

I went to the meeting in Blackpool tonight and was really impressed with Jamie Fuller and the Supporters Direct representative.

They explained how they have already succeeded with campaigns to change legislation and reduce corruption in cycling and athletics.

Jamie Fuller was instrumental in getting Sep Blatter removed from FIFA by lobbying their 3 main sponsors - Coca Cola, McDonalds and Budweiser. Eventually all 3 companies said they would withdraw sponsorship unless Blatter was removed.

They have now turned their attention to Football ownership in England and specifically how bad owners affect communities. They are going to make it a political campaign and already have some support in Westminster. They have a number of ex-footballers on board. Trevor Sinclair was at the meeting and will be one of the figureheads of the campaign. They are hoping to get some current players involved.

They are pushing for legislation to enforce regular, possibly yearly, reviews of football club owners in order to ensure they are working for the good of the communities they serve. Football club owners would be issued with a licence.They want a government body to oversee this - something like OFSTED in schools. If the owners fall short of their obligations they will be penalised - not the clubs. Repeated offending would lead to a removal of their licence to own a football club.

They managed to prevent the meeting becoming too Blackpool-centric and knew all about Rovers case. He mentioned foreign owners who hide behind British subsidiaries and don't care about football or the community. He also said some clubs run in this way may not actually be 'owned' by the official owners at all !.

There were articles in all the main papers today and this really seems like a worthwhile campaign. 

You can log on to the Fans not numbers website, type in your postcode and an email will be automatically sent to your local MP outlining why new legislation is required and how corrupt and unscrupulous football club owners should be controlled like any other aspect of our communities.

Nothing will happen overnight but these guys seemed really determined and have already been working on this for some time. Well worth supporting in my view.

 

 

[Mike E]

In terms of player reps, they ought to get in touch with higher profile players than Sinclair. I recommend Berg and Salgado throw in Givet for some physical threat.

[Leonard Venkhater]

28 minutes ago, Mike E said:

In terms of player reps, they ought to get in touch with higher profile players than Sinclair. I recommend Berg and Salgado throw in Givet for some physical threat.

But I guess it is no accident that there has been so much silence for so long from the so called big names....

[Crimpshrine]

1 hour ago, Mike E said:

In terms of player reps, they ought to get in touch with higher profile players than Sinclair. I recommend Berg and Salgado throw in Givet for some physical threat.

Actually I think Trevor Sinclair is a good choice.

He is a current BBC pundit so is in the public eye and potentially has a perfect platform to bring the issue up in TV debates. His media role opens up all sorts of high profile contacts.

He is also a good confident public speaker.

I admire him for doing it as he has nothing to gain and everything to lose - if the BBC don't like his involvement he could be risking his job.

[Mike E]

5 hours ago, Crimpshrine said:

Actually I think Trevor Sinclair is a good choice.

He is a current BBC pundit so is in the public eye and potentially has a perfect platform to bring the issue up in TV debates. His media role opens up all sorts of high profile contacts.

He is also a good confident public speaker.

I admire him for doing it as he has nothing to gain and everything to lose - if the BBC don't like his involvement he could be risking his job.

Don't get me wrong, I agree! I just feel a bit disappointed other football names don't get more involved, esp those wI think nothing to lose and a grudge!

[Leonard Venkhater]

8 hours ago, Crimpshrine said:

Actually I think Trevor Sinclair is a good choice.

He is a current BBC pundit so is in the public eye and potentially has a perfect platform to bring the issue up in TV debates. His media role opens up all sorts of high profile contacts.

He is also a good confident public speaker.

I admire him for doing it as he has nothing to gain and everything to lose - if the BBC don't like his involvement he could be risking his job.

He gets it, I think. He has said more than most about our situation, while summarising.

Also, I am pretty sure he still lives in the Blackpool area and has a strong affinity with the Tangerine fans

[Butty]

Feed em too the pigs Errol 

[Neal]

23 hours ago, Crimpshrine said:

I went to the meeting in Blackpool tonight and was really impressed with Jamie Fuller and the Supporters Direct representative.

They explained how they have already succeeded with campaigns to change legislation and reduce corruption in cycling and athletics.

Jamie Fuller was instrumental in getting Sep Blatter removed from FIFA by lobbying their 3 main sponsors - Coca Cola, McDonalds and Budweiser. Eventually all 3 companies said they would withdraw sponsorship unless Blatter was removed.

They have now turned their attention to Football ownership in England and specifically how bad owners affect communities. They are going to make it a political campaign and already have some support in Westminster. They have a number of ex-footballers on board. Trevor Sinclair was at the meeting and will be one of the figureheads of the campaign. They are hoping to get some current players involved.

They are pushing for legislation to enforce regular, possibly yearly, reviews of football club owners in order to ensure they are working for the good of the communities they serve. Football club owners would be issued with a licence.They want a government body to oversee this - something like OFSTED in schools. If the owners fall short of their obligations they will be penalised - not the clubs. Repeated offending would lead to a removal of their licence to own a football club.

They managed to prevent the meeting becoming too Blackpool-centric and knew all about Rovers case. He mentioned foreign owners who hide behind British subsidiaries and don't care about football or the community. He also said some clubs run in this way may not actually be 'owned' by the official owners at all !.

There were articles in all the main papers today and this really seems like a worthwhile campaign. 

You can log on to the Fans not numbers website, type in your postcode and an email will be automatically sent to your local MP outlining why new legislation is required and how corrupt and unscrupulous football club owners should be controlled like any other aspect of our communities.

Nothing will happen overnight but these guys seemed really determined and have already been working on this for some time. Well worth supporting in my view.

[Neal]

Top stuff, shame i couldn't make it. Andy Higgins invited me but couldn't make it due to work commitments, i'm even more gutted now having read your review. Organisations like this are going to have a major role to play in forcing change. As a fan of BRFC, CCFC, BFC, LOFC and a clubs alike... Its not enough to show up to football games and pretend everything is ok after a win or two. The futures and history of football clubs, communities, and livelihoods are at stake and we can all play our part in fighting that battle. 

 

It's easy to say on the topic of protests "what will it change?" like many have... Well, there are many ways to protest the ownership of our football club and fight for change in football, you never know... You just might be involved in something that saves our football club... Isn't that worth taking a chance?

[Stuart]

I finding it bemusing when people say that the protests didn't work. (There was some degree of success, mind).

95% of Rovers fans actually did nothing or simply walked away, and that's all the owners, club and authorities really saw.

It's more accurate to say that doing nothing and walking away didn't work.

[blueboy3333]

AS I recall it the protest leader started hanging round with Shebby Singh, emissary of our beloved owners.

[Reedy You're A Star]

And his then partner in crime now sponsors the club.

But to be fair (and accurate), no-one has done more to try rid the club of the Venky cancer than Glenn and he deserves all of our gratitude - protester, stayer or otherwise. According to his blogs, cosying up to Shebby was a necessary evil and certainly working in helping shift he of the invisible dog.

[Neal]

What other people have done no longer matters, it's about what we can do from here. 

[RevidgeBlue]

On 9/7/2017 at 08:01, Stuart said:

I finding it bemusing when people say that the protests didn't work. (There was some degree of success, mind).

95% of Rovers fans actually did nothing or simply walked away, and that's all the owners, club and authorities really saw.

It's more accurate to say that doing nothing and walking away didn't work.

That's not really correct, the protests will have been noted so you can't really say they didnt work however thus far they have been unsuccessful in achieving a change of ownership as the reality of the situation is we are 100m + in debt and still losing large amounts of money so no-one else wants to take us over.

By the same token, "doing nothing" as you describe it or "continuing to support your club in adverse circumstances" as others might describe it cant be said to have failed either as we are still open for business despite being in that same financial hole.

[Mike E]

In a strange way, I think both Rev and Stuart have nailed it.

[Stuart]

2 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

That's not really correct, the protests will have been noted so you can't really say they didnt work however thus far they have been unsuccessful in achieving a change of ownership as the reality of the situation is we are 100m + in debt and still losing large amounts of money so no-one else wants to take us over.

By the same token, "doing nothing" as you describe it or "continuing to support your club in adverse circumstances" as others might describe it cant be said to have failed either as we are still open for business despite being in that same financial hole.

Depends if you think that the aims of Blackburn Rovers multi-millionaire owners should be to "stay open for business".

That is the aim of those left to pick up the pieces when Venkys go.

Venkys aim should be to right their wrongs. They have no intention of doing that but won't even sell to somebody who would have thatvas their aim.

However, your post isn't really correct, you can "continue to support your club in adverse circumstances" AND not "do nothing" to try to bring about change. Sadly, not enough people can be bothered to do just a little bit more than "support the club": e.g. going on a march two hours before ko and then getting behind the lads.