Super-rich clubs are killing the lower leagues
FA CUP third-round weekend used to be the great leveller in English football but the Gillingham chairman tells MATTHEW DUNN he fears it only highlights the differences these days ahead of his club’s tie against Premier League West Ham.
Q NOT FEELING THE ROMANCE OF THE CUP? A No question – the biggest threat facing football is the Premier League. Money is being sucked out of the lower leagues. If the Premier League doesn’t take action alongside the FA, the government have got to get involved. It is killing football. And if the government does not legislate, you will see the death of Leagues One and Two in the next 10 years – if not sooner. You are starting to see so many cracks appear now and there will be a knock-on effect right down the levels. Billions are going into the top tier, the next level is trying to compete with that and the rest are trying just to survive. Q BUT DOESN’T THE FA CUP THIRD ROUND CELEBRATE THE WHOLE BREADTH OF FOOTBALL? A One of my biggest misgivings over the years is that the super-rich elite clubs don’t take the FA Cup as seriously as they should do. Q YOU PLAY WEST HAM. AT LEAST THEIR CO-CHAIRMAN DAVID GOLD SEEMS TO BE ONE OF THE MORE TRADITIONAL GUYS? A David Gold was my best man and made the longest speech I have ever heard a best man make! But I know he loves the FA Cup as much as I do. Q THAT DIDN’T STOP YOU, THOUGH, FROM LYING TO HIM ABOUT HAVING A MAJOR HEART OPERATION. A My baby son died in 2003 from a heart problem and I set up a charity in his name. As a result, one of my closest friends is a heart surgeon. He spotted I was ill. I walked into London Bridge hospital on a Friday night three years ago and it turned out I was going to need major heart surgery. Five bypasses. I was out for 28 hours and apart from my wife and family, nobody knew. Not even my secretary. My doctor said, ‘I cannot believe you were able to walk in here,’ and wanted to sign me off work for three months. Fat chance. Meanwhile, Barry Fry had heard something and David Gold had tweeted a message and two days later I was getting calls asking if I was having heart surgery. “No,” I said, “I am having a meeting with Medway Council!” Q IT’S SURPRISING YOU STILL HAVE ANY LOVE FOR FOOTBALL AFTER THE ABUSE YOU HAVE HAD. A few years ago, the whole stadium seemed to be singing, ‘We want Scally out!” I remember looking along the front row of the director’s box and even people I knew quite well had turned. My mum was pretty much blind but she used to come along to every game and used to enjoy joining in with the singing, even if she did not know the words. She just thought it was a club song and even she was clapping her hands along with it! That was probably my lowest point. Q SO WHY NOT JUST GO? A There are 1.5 million people in Kent and 270,000 in Medway and we are the only pro club in the area. How has this not become another Bolton, Blackpool, Burnley, Bournemouth or Stoke and reached the Premier League? All the ingredients are here. The day I stop believing this club could be in the Premier League, is the day I have to go.