Save Our Clubs
Below is background information from the Football League on the 'Save Our Clubs' campaign. If after reading this you want to join us on the protest on 12 July, click here.
Football League press release
13 June 2002
League Announce Campaign to ‘Save Our Clubs’
The Football League has announced plans for a campaign of direct action against Carlton and Granada, the joint owners of ITV Digital. The campaign is called ‘Save our Clubs’ and aims to harness the anger felt by both clubs and fans at the actions of the two companies in failing to honour the outstanding £178.5m owed to Football League clubs.
The campaign will build up to the beginning of The Football League’s court action against Carlton and Granada on July 26, with the highlight being a protest by all 72 League Chairmen outside the London offices of both companies on July 10.
The protest will be followed by 12 days of further action outside the same offices by League clubs, with six clubs designated to protest on each day. The campaign will also feature lobbying of MPs and petitioning of supporters.
In launching the campaign, Football League Chairman Keith Harris said, "We remain appalled that two corporate giants like Carlton and Granada can be allowed to cause such catastrophic damage to our national sport in the selfish pursuit of their own interests.
"We have made numerous attempts to negotiate with Carlton and Granada, only to be rejected on each occasion. Our patience is now at an end and we will turn up on July 10 and wait, as a united body of chairmen, for Michael Green and Charles Allen to have the common decency to acknowledge our case."
For further details contact:
John Nagle
Head of Communications
The Football League
Tel: 0870 443 9283
Mob: 07979 645 416
Editors' notes
In June 2000 the Football League agreed a £315m television agreement with ITV Digital (then ONdigital). The deal was negotiated in good faith in a competitive environment and reflected the market value for League rights at that point in time.
During the negotiation process ITV Digital tendered a bid document, which under the heading ‘Financial Arrangements’ read, "ONdigital and its shareholders will guarantee all funding to the FL…"
The Football League has fully delivered on its side of the contract.
In March 2002 Carlton Communications and Granada, the co-owners of ITV Digital, placed the company into administration and attempted to walk away from the liabilities of their joint venture, including £178.5m owed to The Football League. This action was taken despite numerous statements made to The Football League, its clubs and the City that ITV digital was on track and would continue to meet its obligations ‘as and when they fell due’. The two companies have claimed that they have no responsibility for ITV Digital’s obligations despite the wording of their initial bid document.
Contrary to what has been leaked to the media The Football League has never received a formal offer from Carlton and Granada. On 17 April 2002 at 4.50pm, the day before a meeting of all clubs at Maine Road, Clifford Chance, the legal representatives of the administrators wrote, "We confirm that there is no proposal available to put to Member Clubs… Should the shareholders inform us of a change in their position we will let you know as soon as possible." To date, there has been no change in this position.
Numerous attempts by Football League officials and advisors to re-open discussions with Carlton and Granada have been met by a blanket refusal to negotiate. In fact, the last scheduled meeting was cancelled, in farcical circumstances, by Carlton and Granada, just twenty minutes before it was due to begin.
The Football League has the backing of the Football Association, the Premier League, League Managers’ Association, Professional Footballers’ Association and Football Supporters Association. An independently conducted poll (ICM research) showed that 66% of people felt that Carlton and Granada should pay football clubs the money owed to them under the terms of the original contract.
Media brief
Ten reasons why the Football League matters
The Football League is the most watched live sporting spectacle in Europe. This season over 15m people watched games in both the regular season and play-offs - the best attendances for 33 years.
With crowds averaging over 17,000, Division One can boast attendances that are twice those of the equivalent Divisions in Italy and France and are 50% greater than those in Spain or Germany. Attendances in Division Two and Three are more than double the equivalent leagues of every other major footballing nation.
Last season Football League matches were shown in 136 countries across the globe, in countries as diverse as Botswana, Iceland and Iraq.
12 of England's 23 man World Cup squad and 12 of England's 22 man squad for the European Under 21 Championship have played in The Football League.
The Football League has proven time and again to be one of the most innovative forces in the modern game. Promotion and relegation, the play-offs, three points for a win, the golden goal and the ten-yard rule were all seen for the first time in professional football in Football League competitions.
All 72 League clubs operate youth development programmes, 19 at Academy level. Over 9,000 young footballers are on the books of our clubs, providing English football with its next generation of talent.
The Football League, in tandem with the PFA, founded Football in the Community in 1986. Each year more than 1.25m children and 7,000 schools take part in its activities. We remain the only country to place this level of emphasis and financial investment in nurturing relations between football clubs and their local communities.
Since the Taylor Report, the architecture of British Football has been transformed. Today, 35 Football League clubs have all-seater stadia, with the majority of these grounds capable of holding in excess of 20,000 fans.
Last season The Football League distributed £100m of revenue to football clubs. The Worthington Cup, which generates £80m annually, is the most important re-distributive mechanism left in professional football.
Football League clubs employ over 2,500 professional footballers and thousands more full-time and part-time administrative and match day staff.
Supporters' protest schedule
Thursday 11 July
AFC Bournemouth
Barnsley
Blackpool
Boston United
Bradford City
Brentford
Friday 12 July
Brighton
Bristol City
Bristol Rovers
Burnley
Bury
Cambridge
Monday July 15
Cardiff
Carlisle
Cheltenham Town
Chesterfield
Colchester
Coventry
Tuesday 16 July
Crewe Alexandra
Crystal Palace
Darlington
Derby County
Exeter City
Gillingham
Wednesday 17 July
Grimsby Town
Rochdale
Hartlepool
Reading
Hull City
Ipswich Town
Kidderminster
Thursday 18 July
Leicester City
Leyton Orient
Lincoln City
Luton Town
Macclesfield Town
Mansfield Town
Friday 19 July
Millwall
Northampton Town
Norwich City
Nottingham Forest
Notts County
Oldham Athletic
Monday 22 July
Oxford United
Peterborough United
Plymouth Argyle
Port Vale
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Tuesday 23 July
Queens Park Rangers
Huddersfield
Rotherham
Rushden and Diamonds
Scunthorpe
Wednesday 24 July
Sheffield United
Sheffield Wednesday
Shrewsbury Town
Southend United
Stockport County
Stoke City
Thursday July 25
Swansea City
Swindon Town
Torquay United
Tranmere Rovers
Walsall
Watford
Friday 26 July
Wigan
Wimbledon
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wrexham
Wycombe Wanderers
York City
Join the protest on 12 July!
June 2002
