And the Sun Shines Now by Adrian Tempany

Author:Adrian Tempany [Adrian Tempany]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571295104
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2016-04-02T04:00:00+00:00

In June 1966, the secretary of state for education and science appointed Norman Chester, CBE, to chair an inquiry ‘into the state of Association Football at all levels, including the organisation, management, finance and administration, and the means by which the game may be developed for the public good’.

Even as Alf Ramsey was making good on his promise to put England on top of the world, doubts were growing about the health of the domestic game. Between 1956 and 1966, match receipts at Division One clubs had risen by 72 per cent, but overheads on players and ground expenses rose at more than double that rate – 157 per cent. This financial imbalance was tilted decisively in 1961, when Jimmy Hill led a successful players’ campaign to abolish the maximum wage of £20 per week. Then, in 1963, former Newcastle United midfielder George Eastham won his appeal against the right of a club to retain a player’s registration even after his contract had expired and he was no longer their employee. The Football League had argued that their ‘retain-and-transfer system’ prevented the biggest clubs signing all the best players, but the judge, Mr Justice Wilberforce, ruled: ‘The system is an employers’ system, set up in an industry where the employers have succeeded in establishing a united monolithic front all over the world, and where it is clear that for the purpose of negotiation the employers are vastly more strongly organised than the employees.’

Eastham’s victory meant that players’ contracts would become a matter of free negotiation between the player and the club, and that once a contract expired, the club could only renew it on terms that were at least equal to the player’s previous deal. The writing was on the wall: English clubs needed to move to a more commercial footing, to look beyond an inadequate income stream reliant on supporters who were increasingly unpredictable.

Hooliganism was now giving serious cause for concern. It had been an intermittent blight around football since the late 19th century, in the guise of proto-hooligans the ‘roughs’, who would not only set about rival supporters, but opposing players and the ref too. It began to pose a significant threat from the early 1960s; in the run-up to the World Cup, several British newspapers were warning that football violence would turn 1966 into a PR disaster for England.

The Chester Report sought to nudge the game forwards. Published in 1968, it recommended a restructuring of the FA, greater opportunities for former players to appear on committees, and a tighter committee for central policy making and planning. It also suggested the FA contribute more from its income to the county associations and towards coaching facilities. The FA was not impressed: ‘It is not expected that a body of this kind [the Chester Committee] can fully understand the ramifications of the complex Football Association,’ it declared. ‘It is not surprising, therefore, that the FA does not accept some of the criticisms.’

Chester was followed, in 1968, by the Harrington Report,

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