THE STORY OF A CRUMBLING EMPIRE
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?
AT ThE delayed AGM, PFA delegates agreed that chief executive Gordon Taylor, chairman Ben Purkiss (left) and the 12 players on the management committee — including Bournemouth’s Asmir Begovic, Burnley’s Tom heaton and England Women’s captain steph houghton — will step down after the independent review into the union.
HOW LONG HAS GORDON TAYLOR BEEN IN CHARGE?
ThE former Bolton winger, 74, has been at the helm since 1981 and is paid £2.2million a year. he has been criticised over lack of funds for research into the links between dementia and football, reports he had amassed £100,000 in gambling debts and the union’s inadequate response to football’s historical sex abuse crisis.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW?
AN INdEPENdENT review will be led by specialist arbitration service sport Resolutions and Thomas Linden QC, who recently defended British Cycling in their tribunal fight with Jess Varnish. Taylor has not provided a timeline for the review. he will stay until the AGM after the review has been completed and his successor has been appointed. A ‘formal independent recruitment process’ will be undertaken to recruit a new chief executive, though it remains unclear who will lead this. Taylor, Purkiss and the management committee will not be able to stand for this position for five years. The decision on how to fill the other posts lies with the PFA.
HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?
IN NOVEMBER, Purkiss called for reform and questioned how the PFA’s vast reserves are spent. Civil war broke out as Taylor claimed Purkiss was ineligible to be chairman due to being a noncontract player. Sportsmail then revealed Taylor appeared to have breached trade union rules by never having stood for election. More than 300 former players supported Purkiss’s calls for Taylor to stand down, but he survived. Concerns were raised over the PFA’s financial advisory arm, which went into liquidation £1m in the red. The Charity Commission confirmed it had opened a case into the PFA’s charity arm and Taylor bowed to pressure and agreed to a ‘full and open review’.