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Sunday, October 19, 2014

MP Warns FA To Act Or Face Legislation


5Live Investigates focused on the FA and the Owners and Directors Test in their programme this morning.

Presenter Adrian Goldberg spoke to fans of various clubs including HUST Vice Chairman Martin Watson and Hereford MP Jesse Norman.

Goldberg opened the piece by looking at Hereford United, playing an early interview with Tommy Agombar in which he promised to pay 'everyone' and 'settle everything here'. Watson added: "He promised everyone they would be paid, and the simple fact is they haven't been."

Goldberg asked Watson what the feeling was from fans when Agombar first arrived: "We'd had talks of a £7million investment. He rang myself and Trust chairman Chris Williams and told us he had £7million to put into the club - and we haven't seen anywhere near that sum. 

"Almost immediately when he was announced as being the owner people found, by searching on the internet, his past history and it was blatantly obvious that he was going to fail the test. How he lasted as long as he did in charge of the club is a mystery.

"On the day of the Conference AGM he was down the club, rather than at the AGM, telling fans that everything was fine. That he'd be putting money in that week that would clear the bills. And literally three days later we were kicked out of the Conference because that hadn't happened."

Goldberg asked Watson his thoughts on the FA's test: "It's absolutely useless. He was clearly not capable of passing the test yet the FA have absolutely no jurisdiction in stopping somebody buying a limited company and they've got no ability to enforce their own rules."

Goldberg then turned to MP Jesse Norman: "The whole thing was a shambles and the FA is very much at fault because it has not administered this test properly. It has not made it public as to what the results are. It hasn't insisted that the test be satisfied before people become owners and Directors."

Goldberg then asks Norman about the impact of Agombar's disqualification on Hereford United: "The club has been in great shock financially and otherwise but, of course, you don't forget that although Mr Agombar is not an owner of the club himself, the club's ownership has been transferred to some entity about which we know nothing. 

"Mr Agombar appears to play a significant role in the club now. There have been reports that he has been talking to players, speaking to staff, saying he is going to be hiring coaches. He is behaving like a man who has not changed his majority ownership of the club and we know nothing of the new owners, they have not disclosed themselves or come anywhere near. 

"There is a real question as to whether or not the test has had any effect on Mr Agombar's actual status at all, so I do think that the time has come for the FA to actually put it's boots on and Greg Dyke should be leading them to do a proper job of reforming the rules and properly enforcing them.

"Frankly, if he doesn't do that we're going to make a fuss until it gets done. If the job isn't done properly then it may be up to elected representatives in our democracy to do something about it."

"We cannot have clubs being run by people unless they are of known probity and integrity. The FA is responsible for the lower leagues and it should be enforcing this test and it should do so quickly and transparently."

Goldberg then reports that Andy Lonsdale told the programme that Agombar is not a shareholder or Director of the club, and has the right to speak to people he brought to the club.

The programme then goes on to speak about the issues at Salisbury and Birmingham, and takes the thoughts of MP Clive Efford.

The programme is available to listen to for the next four weeks at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04lp1d7