Gordon Brown to save Leeds United TSS April 2, 2010 Leeds United 28 Comments Election year for Great Britain and whilst you’d expect all the parties manifestoes to contain their theory on how to rid the world of evil, curb the ever escalating debt of Great Britain and keep that pesky climate under control, what you probably weren’t expecting was Gordon Brown to be staking his claim to save professional football. The ever-increasing debts of football clubs up and down the country have led to the financial collapse of several clubs, most notably our own. The dire state of the English game has led to a whole host of dodgy and illusive owners taking over clubs and the fans have never been more distanced from their teams than they currently are, despite record attendances and increasing ticket prices. What does this have to do with the Labour election campaign? Well, quite simply, it’s a vote winner. Football is as much a way of life in England as Sunday service is in middle-America. With so many fan-bases concerned about the way football is being run, a promise to try and resolve these problems could keep the working class people of this great country aligned with Labour. The working-class is where the election campaign will likely be fought and won and since Labours tax and national insurance increases won’t be too pleasing to your average working man, this could be the positive PR labour need. Politics and football aren’t something I like to see collide as a rule, but for once I find myself in total agreement with Gordon Brown. A Government is supposed to represent the people of the nation and address the concerns they have. As a democracy, our voices should be heard and the issues we have should be dealt with. To be critical of Gordon Brown for doing that would be highly hypocritical of any of us. His plans to make clubs give a 25% stake back to fans, give the FA additional powers to stop dodgy takeovers and remove any vested interests from the boards is what we’ve been screaming for, for a long time now. If re-elected, it’s rumoured these plans would be forced through within the first year of a new Labour term. The FA and Football League have failed massively when it comes down to the ownership issues of football clubs, but this might just be the answer we were all looking for. Anything that gives football back to the fans will always have my support, and if the other proposals mean the ultimate benefactors of Leeds United are forced out of the woodwork then that’s even better. Of course, there’s bound to be a lot of cynicism aimed in Gordon Brown’s direction when these plans are officially unveiled. A lot of fans won’t like the Government interfering with football, whilst bitter, twisted journalists will predictably right this off as a vote-winning sideshow that avoids the real concerns of the nation. This kind of stuff is what politics is all about, but in Gordon Brown’s defence, he really is addressing (one of) the concerns of your average working man and if that wins him a few votes then so be it. He is running for Prime Minister after all… That’s kind of the idea.