Football League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney praises Tranmere’s strong local community ties

Aug 20 2009 by Nick Hilton, Liverpool Daily Post

FOOTBALL LEAGUE chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney says Tranmere’s strong ties to the local community will be all-important in the battle to cope with the effects of the recession.

Rovers, in common with the majority of League One and League Two clubs, are grappling with falling attendances and a decline in revenue from sponsorship and commercial activities.

The result has been a cutback in the budget for players available to manager John Barnes this season and economies in other, non-football areas of the club’s operations.

Lord Mawhinney, the former Conservative government minister who became the League’s figurehead six years ago, was an early-season visitor to Prenton Park this month.

He said: “Tranmere is a well-run club that makes good use of its resources, has good cost control and it does the community thing very well.”

He acknowledges the Championship clubs will receive the bulk of extra money from a new broadcasting deal. But he insists the wealth gap between the bottom two divisions and the Championship is “not significant when compared to the gap between the Championship and the Premier League.”

Lord Mawhinney added: “Clubs in the Football League can’t compete with the Premier League when it comes to money and that’s okay by me.

“But the Premier League clubs are not able to compete with our clubs in terms of our closeness and integration with the local community. Tranmere does the community thing very well.

“I will expect to find a home match at Tranmere sees the largest community involvement with the people of Birkenhead during the week.

“Football League clubs give their local people a share of ownership: they feel the local club is their club. That’s very important.”

Lord Mawhinney argues that clubs like Tranmere have to use those close ties to the community as they battle to ride out the tough financial conditions.

He said: “I have been saying for the past six years that the best revenue stream for clubs is to get more people into the ground, by encouraging supporters to bring a friend with them to the next game. That’s why you see cut-price admission initiatives and special offers at clubs like Tranmere.”

Lord Mawhinney argues the Football League would benefit if the transfer window system, imposed across the European game by governing bodies FIFA and EUFA did not apply to clubs outside the top division of national league structures.

Lord Mawhinney said: “It is understandable why transfer windows are there for premier leagues across Europe. They help to provide a level playing field in European competition.

“But Football League clubs are not interested in Europe. I don’t think anyone thought about us when the transfer windows were introduced. It is hurting our clubs because historically, one of the ways in which our clubs balance the books is by selling players.

“Now the selling opportunities are restricted to two windows in January and the summer.

“The other problem is the transfer windows artificially drives up the price of players, especially in January when everyone panics. It’s inflationary and that does not help Football League clubs.”

Transfer windows have less impact in many other European countries, Lord Mawhinney says, because clubs outside the top flight tend to be smaller and less well supported than in England. “We are so much bigger than any other second leagues in Europe because we’ve been around for a long time, since the 1880s,” he said.

“There are more people watching the Championship each season then watch Serie A in Italy.

“On the first weekend of the season more people attended games in the Championship than in the French top division and the Dutch top division.

“We have argued our case but we don’t have the muscle.

“So we have asked the Government to exercise some muscle on our behalf.”