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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 9 February 2012, in the House of Commons, led by Dai Havard. The answering member was Hugh Robertson.

Football Governance

Westminster Hall debate on a motion for the adjournment on football governance.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
540 c143-92WH 
Session
2010-12
Department
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
Proceeding contributions
John Whittingdale | 540 c143-4WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Havard, and to have the opportunity to discuss...
Speaker | 540 c143WH (Link to this contribution) For the benefit of people in the Public Gallery and everyone else, I should make it clear that today...
Show all contributions (81)
Lord Foster of Bath | 540 c152WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Havard. I know that many hon. Members wish to ...
Speaker | 540 c154WH (Link to this contribution) Ten minutes with an intervention. Exemplary, Mr, Foster.
Tom Greatrex | 540 c154-5WH (Link to this contribution) I will endeavour to do as well as the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr Foster) in keeping to time. I ...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c152WH (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman will appreciate the central role that football plays in communities because...
Lord Foster of Bath | 540 c152-4WH (Link to this contribution) I hope the hon. Gentleman proves to be right and we will hear about the response on that issue that ...
Mark Field | 540 c155WH (Link to this contribution) Although I accept that an engaged supporters' base that can play an integral role in its ongoing dev...
Tom Blenkinsop | 540 c155WH (Link to this contribution) Another club in a similar situation in 1986 was, of course, Middlesbrough, which was fortunate enoug...
Tom Greatrex | 540 c155WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. I have raised it with the Minister in relation to Supporter...
Steve Rotheram | 540 c150-2WH (Link to this contribution) That is exactly the point, and I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Graham Jones) ...
Mark Field | 540 c150WH (Link to this contribution) All too often, clubs in appalling financial difficulty grasp at the nearest straw like a drowning ma...
Mark Field | 540 c147WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is talking sense on the fit and proper person test which seems to be honoured more in...
John Whittingdale | 540 c147WH (Link to this contribution) The truth is there will be different regimes governing the ownership of football clubs. For this par...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c147WH (Link to this contribution) Will the Committee Chairman extend the same compliments to Peter Coates, who is chairman of Stoke Ci...
John Whittingdale | 540 c147-8WH (Link to this contribution) I am very happy to pay the same tribute to Peter Coates. As an aside, let me say that the rest of th...
Lord Dodds of Duncairn | 540 c148WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman's Committee for the work that it has done in this area. The reco...
John Whittingdale | 540 c148WH (Link to this contribution) I think that that is a matter more for my hon. Friend the Minister than for me, but I certainly agre...
Speaker | 540 c148WH (Link to this contribution) Order. Given the number of hon. Members who wish to speak and the time constraint, Members should es...
Steve Rotheram | 540 c148-50WH (Link to this contribution) That is a tall order, Mr Havard. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship this afternoon. I...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c144WH (Link to this contribution) I apologise that I cannot stay for the whole debate because of constituency engagements. Does the Ch...
John Whittingdale | 540 c144WH (Link to this contribution) I will of course give way to my colleague on the Committee.
John Whittingdale | 540 c144-7WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman—he is really a friend on the Committee—encapsulates the report in a couple of sen...
Mark Field | 540 c162WH (Link to this contribution) People will remember that Arsenal, although now based in north London, started its life in Woolwich,...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 540 c162WH (Link to this contribution) There is a strong parallel. In 1913 the owners of Arsenal, Henry Norris and William Hall, moved the ...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 540 c161-2WH (Link to this contribution) Perhaps it is appropriate that I, as the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes, have the opportunit...
Graham P Jones | 540 c166WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you for that advice, Chair. I respect your latitude. The letter has been published in several ...
Graham P Jones | 540 c164-5WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your stewardship for the first time, Mr Havard. I declare an interes...
Speaker | 540 c166WH (Link to this contribution) Order. Can I advise the Member? I need to be careful about privilege. I understand what you are sayi...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 540 c163-4WH (Link to this contribution) I will not, because that is not fair on other hon. Members, and I have given way to my hon. Friend o...
Siobhain McDonagh | 540 c162WH (Link to this contribution) I hope that my contribution was in no way unpleasant or anti. I congratulate the MK Dons on its fant...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 540 c162-3WH (Link to this contribution) I accept the hon. Lady's point, but unfortunately I will seek to disappoint her on the issue with th...
Tom Greatrex | 540 c156WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions another good example, of which there are many. FC United formed a club on th...
Andrew Bingham | 540 c156WH (Link to this contribution) What does the hon. Gentleman think about those lower down the football pyramid in the lower league l...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c158WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that Portsmouth is the most recent case in point in which a licensing model...
Penny Mordaunt | 540 c158-9WH (Link to this contribution) I absolutely agree. It is an amazement to Portsmouth fans, who after just 10 minutes on Google have ...
Siobhain McDonagh | 540 c159-61WH (Link to this contribution) My contribution to the debate is from the viewpoint of a fan of one of the clubs that has been most ...
Tom Greatrex | 540 c156-7WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has anticipated my next point. If a club has somewhere to go and has plans in pla...
Penny Mordaunt | 540 c157-8WH (Link to this contribution) My apologies to hon. Members. In addition to being the home of Fratton Park, Portsmouth is home to t...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c158WH (Link to this contribution) I am making brief interventions in lieu of a speech. I am sorry, Mr Chairman.
Graham P Jones | 540 c155-6WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument on behalf of supporters. It can be seen in its purest f...
Baroness Coffey | 540 c188WH (Link to this contribution) The Minister will have plenty of volunteers to help.
Hugh Robertson | 540 c188-90WH (Link to this contribution) I hope that the football authorities will step up to the plate and produce the right response at the...
Clive Efford | 540 c190WH (Link to this contribution) I wanted to say that there is no quick fix. This is a huge problem that has grown up over many years...
Hugh Robertson | 540 c190-1WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the shadow Minister for those remarks. If anyone has any doubt about whether something as ar...
Clive Efford | 540 c186-7WH (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right, and we need a mechanism so that the FA, the Premier League and the Footbal...
Tom Blenkinsop | 540 c186WH (Link to this contribution) Guisborough Town football club in my constituency—I am its president—has an excellent supporters gro...
Hugh Robertson | 540 c187-8WH (Link to this contribution) Without wishing to disappoint anyone, I have a horrid feeling that the eyes of the football world ma...
Clive Efford | 540 c182-6WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Select Committee on the report. I join the Chair of the Committee in the tribute ...
Clive Efford | 540 c186WH (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. What we want from governing bo...
Steve Rotheram | 540 c186WH (Link to this contribution) On access to information, people are probably aware that Everton football club and its supporters ar...
Roger Gale | 540 c180WH (Link to this contribution) Order. I will call Mr Bingham next, then the two Front-Bench spokesmen. I understand that Mr Whittin...
Andrew Bingham | 540 c180-2WH (Link to this contribution) I shall attempt to be as brief as possible. As ever when speaking last in such debates, a lot of thi...
Baroness Coffey | 540 c178-80WH (Link to this contribution) That might well be true, but I do not pretend to speak on behalf of Schalke. There are, however, som...
Damian Collins | 540 c178WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an important point. She is referring to the loan made by Gazprom to Schalke...
Baroness Coffey | 540 c177-8WH (Link to this contribution) Of course, one of the new independent directors is a woman, which was a little bit of a surprise, bu...
Steve Rotheram | 540 c177WH (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that the FA still needs to do more to become fully inclusive? An FA board n...
Baroness Coffey | 540 c176-7WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, and that of Mr Havard, the previous Ch...
Mark Field | 540 c175-6WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, I share many of those concerns. I suspect, I am afraid, that at some level, even within our own...
Damian Collins | 540 c175WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman mentioned the UEFA scheme. Does he share my concern that a report published by FI...
Mark Field | 540 c173-5WH (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Maldon (Mr Whittingdale) and his Committee on producing...
Damian Collins | 540 c171-3WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that comment, but I will make that the last intervention that I take, if the House...
Damian Collins | 540 c170-1WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. I shall come on to my views on the solution to the problem; b...
Graham P Jones | 540 c171WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is generous in giving way, and makes an excellent point, which I want to add to, ...
Tom Blenkinsop | 540 c170WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent point and a valid argument. I want to praise the Governmen...
Damian Collins | 540 c168WH (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger, in this important debate. We have hear...
Graham P Jones | 540 c166-8WH (Link to this contribution) It is more than alleged; I think it is probably true, as nobody has come out and disputed it. Clear...
Damian Collins | 540 c168-9WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. When we have foreign ownership and we do not know who the owners are; w...
Mark Field | 540 c168WH (Link to this contribution) I can understand why many in the footballing fraternity might think it is not necessarily Parliament...
Damian Collins | 540 c169-70WH (Link to this contribution) The test is designed to make it possible to understand whether someone is a capable administrator, w...
Graham P Jones | 540 c169WH (Link to this contribution) On that note, does the hon. Gentleman think that somehow the fit and proper person test could includ...
Damian Collins | 540 c170WH (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with my right hon. Friend that it is a good thing for supporters to have that int...
Lord Foster of Bath | 540 c170WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman constantly refers to the fit and proper persons test. Does not that draw attentio...
John Whittingdale | 540 c191-2WH (Link to this contribution) With the leave of the House, I will make one or two brief comments. One of the pleasures of chairing...
Paul Farrelly | 540 c144WH (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way before he goes into the report?
Tom Greatrex | 540 c155WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is perhaps in danger of straying into the territory of Ron Noades a few years ago...
Speaker | 540 c158WH (Link to this contribution) You will get pinged if necessary, Mr Farrelly.
Speaker | 540 c157WH (Link to this contribution) My only disappointment, Mr Greatrex, is that you did not mention Merthyr Town, which is my club. It ...
Roger Gale | 540 c182WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his forbearance.
Subjects
Directors Finance Licensing Governing bodies Football Ownership Football Association
Link
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