. .. BUT STILL HE’S CLINGING ON

GORDON TAYLOR was clinging to power as chief executive of the PFA last night after emerging from crisis talks at the union headquarters in manchester.

taylor, who has been facing calls for his resignation from former players since

Sportsmail reported last week that he is in a power struggle with PFA chairman Ben Purkiss, refused to answer questions after being approached by the BBC.

As this newspaper revealed, taylor may be in breach of both trade union and PFA rules if he has managed to remain chief executive for 37 years without having to stand for re-election.

When asked to comment on that, and for a response to more than 300 former professionals supporting Purkiss in calling for modernisation of the organisation, a stony-faced taylor climbed into his car without comment and drove away.

Purkiss wants an independent governance review of the PFA amid concerns, in particular, about how their funds are distributed. Yesterday former PFA chairman Clarke Carlisle joined the list of explayers calling for taylor to step down.

‘gordon has been nothing but supportive of me when many other people left me on my own,’ Carlisle, who was chairman between 2010 and 2013, told the Evening

Standard. ‘he has done a phenomenal job across four decades. he is in a perfect position to pass the union into new hands and have new eyes look at it.’