SPFL chief Doncaster facing questions over youth contract probe
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster will be quizzed in front of MSPs on Tuesday about senior clubs’ handling of young players and their club contracts, practices described as a ‘scandal’ by a grassroots football pressure group.
Doncaster will be present at a round-table discussion, convened by David Stewart MSP, where the Scottish Parliament’s petitions committee will continue its investigation into alleged illegal contracts at youth level and the harm caused to the grassroots game by clubs.
The meeting is a key stage of what has been a four-year campaign to date, waged by William Smith and Scott Robertson, two stalwarts of boys club and youth football in Scotland campaigning for reform through the realgrassroots.co.uk movement.
The group have demanded the investigation into contracts that allow clubs to charge compensation payments for minors — a system they claim amounts to a children’s transfer market in the Scottish game.
They also have evidence that a teenager signing registration forms with a senior club can be led to believe it is for a year, yet the club holds the right to exercise the option of a further two years without affording the player a choice.
Smith is calling for government and agency funding — up to £2million a year for youth football — to stop unless the SPFL and SFA agree to an independent probe into their running of the game at grassroots level.
‘There should be a suspension of funding to the SPFL and SFA until there’s an independently conducted investigation to ensure fair practices are brought in,’ said Smith. ‘That will form part of our written submission.
‘We don’t want to see that happening but if the SPFL and SFA decide not to cooperate, that would be the only course of action left to take.
‘Many MSPs feel strongly about these issues. There is already a frustration on their part about how long it was taking for the SPFL and SFA to respond on matters we have raised — and they decided a round-table discussion was necessary.
‘The realistic end result for us is that the Scottish football authorities understand that they cannot remove the rights of a child. There can be no profitmaking in the transfer of one child to another club. Clearly that is going on in Scottish football.
‘The other issue will be with a 15-year-old child signing on a registration for one year — and that registration being able to carry on another two years whether the person wants that or not. This is illegal. We think it’s a scandal that children are tied to that at the mercy of clubs.’
Edinburgh advocate Malcolm McGregor will be an independent legal mind at the table with a view on current registration procedures. The SFA’s Director of Football Governance and Regulation, Andrew McKinlay, and John Murray, who was last week moved from Hearts academy director to chief scout by Craig Levein, will also be on hand to answer questions.
‘It promises to be a lively debate,’ said Smith. ‘We are well prepared for it. We have support from FIFPro, the world players’ organisation, among others.
‘An hour is allocated for the meeting but we have written to Parliament suggesting that four years’ work has gone into this and it may require more time.’
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