Now is the perfect time to launch the promised review into the women’s domestic game and end eyebrow-raising disparitiesThe women’s game is, undoubtedly, having a “moment”. The European Championship has caught the imagination of football fans and the wider public.The performances of the England team have led back pages, with the Lionesses playing to primetime TV audiences and packed stadiums full of passionate fans. The comeback win against Spain was pure football drama, capped by a winning goal from Georgia Stanway that would grace any game. Continue reading...
Every week we see the commitment of young British Asian footballers and their parents – nobody here is making excusesWe were disappointed to read remarks made by Amir Khan this week. The boxing great chose the moment of his retirement to take a swipe at young British Asians in sport – and footballers in particular. He said they give up too easy and fall back on “excuses”. He said their diet is “appalling” and made up mainly of curries. Perhaps these were throwaway comments, but they perpetuate a myth and they need to be addressed.We work together as part of the Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme (Aims) at the Professional Footballers’ Association. One of us is a lawyer, the other a...
With the chief executive finally on his way it is time the PFA joined the modern world and followed the examples set Sterling and RashfordFarewell, then, Gordon Taylor. Who knows, maybe this time it really will be adieu. The news that Taylor will be leaving his post imminently, a mere 39 years into his elevation to the role of Professional Footballers’ Association chief executive, will be met with caution by long-term Taylor watchers.Like a zombified hand, thrust back up through the cemetery soil, Taylor’s most remarkable quality in recent years has been his astonishing indestructibility. This is a union boss capable of surviving not just successive rounds of bad publicity, gaffes and campaigning opposition, but his own previous departure notice...
Reactions to the social-media boycott show the players’ union still has much to do to win over sceptics and persuade Twitter et al to actIt wasn’t easy at first to know what to make of the Professional Footballers’ Association’s #enough campaign. It was difficult to be sure if it was genuinely the work of its equalities team or an idea dreamt up by a PR agency. A suspicious mind might have wondered whether the relevant people needed some positive publicity after all that unfortunate business with Gordon Taylor and, even if you were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, I couldn’t help but feel they were pushing their luck to think a 24-hour boycott of social media,...
Taylor has ruled the PFA for four decades but if upstart general Ben Purkiss has his way, the chief executive will fall short of surpassing Fidel Castro in the annals of absolute powerHow distressing to find this column’s old friend Gordon Taylor the subject of insurrectionary behaviour in his stronghold. The boss of the Professional Footballers’ Association is reputedly the highest-paid union official in the galaxy, taking home £2.29m last year, and has ruled for four decades (three years as chairman and 37 years as chief executive.) Yet those of us fervently hoping for him to surpass Fidel Castro (52 years) in the annals of absolute power may be disappointed if upstart general Ben Purkiss has his way. Related: Gordon...