Taylor cannot play for extra time as final whistle sounds
THE dam has burst and the torrent of criticism directed at the Professional Footballers’ Association and its veteran chief executive Gordon Taylor will be relentless until one of two eventualities takes place.
In an old-fashioned world of honour and dignity and knowing when your time is up, the 74-year-old Taylor would step down from his role and allow a new generation to revitalise the players’ union.
This would be the wise move – but he seems unwilling to recognise good sense staring him in the face.
The second option, and the only credible way that Taylor could continue in charge of the embattled organisation, is by immediately announcing an election for his post of chief executive and standing as a candidate against any rivals who emerge.
In that way he could try to persuade the footballers of England with reasoned argument that the fierce critics are wrong and that he remains the best man for the job.
Taylor is a fighter – but he is unlikely to accept this challenge because he knows the chances of victory would be slim to non-existent.
So, what has he done instead? He has called for an independent inquiry, which is what leaders do when they want to stall for time and quieten the noise of discontent.
They hope it will take so long to report that everybody will have forgotten why there was an inquiry in the first place.
You may call that a cynical view but isn’t this what happens so many times in politics and business and sport?
I remember only too well talking with Taylor in his office at PFA headquarters in 2002, and being told about the joint research study they had set up with the FA to investigate possible links between heading footballs and the number of ex-players suffering from dementia and related illnesses.
He was responding to strong criticism of the PFA at that time from the family of Jeff Astle, who felt the union wasn’t interested enough in the issue, even after a coroner had declared that heading footballs directly contributed to the former England striker’s early death.
Taylor pointed to the 10-year project as evidence of the profound importance of the matter to the PFA. He showed me a bulging file of papers on the subject.
The study was never completed, a fact that was quietly sidelined and only uncovered some years later.
Among the topics on which Taylor is facing so much criticism, this is one of the most emotive.
Chris Sutton, a former England player and now a popular TV pundit, is fierce in his condemnation. It is personal for Sutton because his father Mike, an ex-professional too, suffers from dementia.
His testimony is powerful and so is that of many others.
Ken McNaught, a central defender who won the European Cup in 1981 with Aston Villa, has written about the lack of support he felt he received from the PFA when asking for financial help with heart surgery he required.
He contrasts their response with the £2million the union spent to buy a painting by LS Lowry and their £50m reserve fund.
McNaught said: “It was galling that the PFA were sitting on huge amounts of money but couldn’t help with private medical care. That painting, how much is it worth now?
“But to spend £40,000 on an ex-player, saving his life, what benefit do they get? They are out of pocket. That’s the way they look at it.”
Another strong voice has been that of former Liverpool and Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy, widely admired as an intelligent observer of the modern game. He said: “The PFA’s responsibility to footballers is huge but it’s not being fulfilled. This is an organisation that has the capacity to help hundreds of people who are in desperate need and they’re not doing enough.
“The money they receive is huge and it doesn’t compare with what they give back.”
Other topics alarm the critics. There is the incredibly high £2.29m salary paid to Taylor and the lavish expenditure on paintings and memorabilia.
There is the curious situation for a union official that Taylor has not had to face elections to his post.
The financial collapse of a company linked to the union must also be a concern. In 2009, PFA Financial Management Ltd went into liquidation owing more than £1m to its creditors, former players among them.
It is impossible to avoid a feeling that the Professional Footballers’ Association stands at the most serious crossroads in its 111-year history, and that it cannot wait complacently for the results of a long ‘independent inquiry’.
The PFA has to open the windows and let a blast of fresh air breeze through.