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Football Governance

It is a pleasure to serve under your stewardship for the first time, Mr Havard. I declare an interest as a season ticket holder at Blackburn Rovers, where I have been attending regularly since 1978. Blackburn's proud 137-year history and status as a founding member of the Football League is under significant threat due to the risks of poor foreign ownership. The club is in a sorry state, finding itself in the firestorm of the foreign ownership debate. I hope that lessons can be learned from my contribution. Over the past 14 months, the club's proud history has received little respect from its new Indian owners, Venky's London Ltd. I must apologise at this stage; I was supposed to be joined by my right hon. Friend the Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), who wanted to concur with a lot of what I am going to say. I would like that noted on the record. The club's sale by the Jack Walker Trust to the Indian company Venky's in November 2010 has been followed by a series of damaging headlines, shock resignations, instability and regression of the club's fortunes on and off the field. More recently, elements within and connected to the club have engaged in a damaging PR campaign against supporters that has been confrontational and, in my view, has highlighted significant failings of the owners, the manager and his expansive role and associated parties. They are at the centre of the shambles that is currently Blackburn Rovers, a club held up and respected by the football industry as an example of one of the best-run clubs in the premier league. Weekly protests, a plummeting league position, huge losses, dubious transfers, escalating agents' fees and—more pertinently, and against league rules—the suggested involvement of agents in the running of the club have all undermined its authority and management. I put on record the comments of Alex Ferguson, who seemed to echo that final point about the role of agents in football clubs. The role of the board of directors is now unclear, and their authority is now negligible or, at worst, undesirable. That is far removed from the mirage painted by the new owners: a Shangri-La of increasing transfer budgets, Champions League football and the promised continuation of a stable and well-run club. The current situation at Blackburn Rovers opens up a new set of questions about football governance, transparency, the fit and proper persons test and the undermining of the premier league itself. What concerns me and many supporters is the role of Jerome Anderson, a leading football agent, and of Steve Kean, manager and, more significantly, Anderson's client in the running of the club under the Venky's governance arrangements. Following Rothschild's failed attempt to sell the club, Mr Anderson was brought in to find a new buyer, and found Venky's. After that takeover, he became an adviser for Venky's at Blackburn Rovers. In his own words, that involved sleeping and eating at the training ground and advising and helping during the transfer window of 2011. I remind the House that rule H8b of the football agents regulations governs the behaviour of agents and their organisations and prohibits them from having an interest in a club, which includes"““being in a position or having any association that may enable the exercise of a material financial, commercial, administrative, managerial or any other influence over the affairs of the Club whether directly or indirectly and whether formally or informally.””" It could not be clearer. Anderson has stated on his own website and reported on the Sky Sports website:"““In January 2011 I was requested by the owners to assist the club during that transfer window…At the conclusion of the January 2011 transfer window I ceased to assist Blackburn Rovers Football Club in any capacity and I can confirm that I have not had any role or influence in their transfer policy or any other business of the club whatsoever since that date.””" I wish to draw Members' attention to a leaked letter signed by the former and respected chairman John Williams, currently employed by Manchester City, his equally able assistant Tom Finn and the finance director of Blackburn Rovers. The letter says:"““Finally, our Football Secretary””" at Blackburn Rovers"““has, this morning, been instructed by SEM””—" the company with which Jerome Anderson is involved—"““to issue a mandate to a third party without any reference or approval from the Board. We are not familiar with the player concerned nor is he one that has been mentioned to us by the Manager. Could you please, therefore, clarify the role of SEM in our transfer policy?””" That letter was sent to the owners last January. I will draw further on its contents later. Those decisions have led to the resignation of an experienced and highly regarded set of administrators, risking the club's ability to manage its own affairs. Notable and of grave concern is an agent's admission that he has been involved in decision making within the club, that that has allegedly involved instructions to the club's directors to make payments to third parties, and that the manager connected to that agent and given overall responsibility for all affairs at the club—on and off the field and above the board—has a conflict of interest.