Kitson wants ‘new vision’ for the PFA
FORMER Reading, Stoke and Portsmouth forward Dave Kitson says he is “ready, willing and able” to lead the Professional Footballers’ Association.
The 40-year-old says he has been “troubled” by the criticism of the players’ union from fellow players and the media during the coronavirus pandemic, and that he “can no longer sit idly by and do nothing”.
Kitson has posed 101 questions to the PFA leadership and said in a statement: “I have been troubled by the breadth of criticism levelled at the PFA over the past 12 months from both the mainstream media and, in particular in recent months, from a number of esteemed colleagues against whom I’ve either played or otherwise hold in the highest regard.
“The recent sharp escalation of public criticism from highprofile players arising out of the PFA’S stated response to the current COVID-19 pandemic is extremely troubling.
“The fact that certain individual Premier League players and the captains of the Premier League clubs - under the banner of the ‘#Playerstogether’ initiative felt the need to act independently of the PFA in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is nothing short of embarrassing. This has strengthened my belief that I can no longer personally sit idly by and do nothing.”
PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor has been criticised over a variety of issues.
Kitson added it was “alarming” that the union was also the subject of an independent governance review and a statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission.
Taylor has said he will stand down on completion of the independent review, having taken over as chief executive in 1981.