JOHN NICHOLSON: CAN WE HAVE OUR FOOTBALL BACK

05/25/20 • 37 min

Football writer and Middlebrough sufferer John Nicholson talks about his book Can We Have Our Football Back, a stinging polemic against the Premier League.
Follow John on Twitter @johnnythenic
Presented by Adrian Goldberg (@Goldbergradio)
Produced by Adrian Goldberg for Kick In The Grass Productions.

Previous Episode

SURVIVORS? PORT VALE AND THE ZERO INCOME GAME

Port Vale co-Chair Carol Shanahan explains how her club will move forward following the unanimous decision to immediately end the League Two season (apart from the play-offs) because of Coronavirus.
The proposal (subject to FA ratification) is that promotion and relegation should be determined by the state of the table at the time of its suspension in March, leaving Vale agonisingly short of a play-off place.
The bigger question for clubs at this level is how they will survive if fans are unable to watch matches live for a prolonged period, given that a great proportion of their income is derived from gate money than clubs higher up the pyramid (who receive greater broadcast revenues).
It's not all doom and gloom though - during the lockdown Port Vale are getting active in the community by distributing thousands of dinners to needy people across Stoke-on-Trent.

Next Episode

SAVING FOOTBALL AS WE KNOW IT: DAMIAN COLLINS MP

"We may only have a few weeks to save football in this country as we know it” warns Damian Collins MP - who has come up with a radical new plant to save clubs who might go out of business because of Coronavirus.
He’s calling for a government backed loans for those in financial distress - but with strings attached. Any bail out must be accompanied by oversight from a newly created Football Finance Authority.
Damian also envisages that in return for taking a loan, clubs would have to allow fans or a local authority a place on the board.
Produced and presented by Adrian Goldberg for Kick In The Grass.