Football Bungs

Football Bungs

I have read a lot this week about Mike Newell and his allegations of a bung culture and the differing view points of people within the game and whether he is just making it up or not. From my point of view it comes down to one thing: what does he have to gain by coming out with his allegations?

As I see it, all he has done is made it very difficult for him to continue with his career ….. he has upset a lot of agents which will affect his possibilities of signing players for his club. In fact he has upset a lot of people who make money out of these bungs. Lets face it we all know it goes on and no one truly believes that all agents are decent honest people. The same is true for club chairmen and directors.

Its like every business in the world, it's full of greedy people whose sole purpose is to make as much money as possible. Yes there are honest people too but we are kidding ourselves if we do not realise that there are people on the take.

I am glad to see that one of the players has stood up and backed Newell’s claims. It is good to see someone with integrity. I had thought everyone else would close ranks and hang him out to dry. Personally I would like to see the FA do more to regulate transfer dealings, every single dealing should be fully transparent with every payment needing to be accounted for.

In fact not just transfer dealings, everything a club spends money on should be fully accounted for and logged with the FA. That way the fans can see those directors that are taking big fat bonuses and those who are not. We then know which player really is being paid too much and which players are undervalued.

It would give us a chance to see if our hard earned cash paying for tickets, strips and other club merchandise is truly being spent in the club’s interests. After all if Leeds United had put a report in detailing how much Peter Ridsdale was wasting, the club might not of ended up in such dire financial straits. The fans would certainly of had something to say about the amount he spent on his fish tank for instance.

All I can say is good luck Mr. Newell you are going to need it because you can guarantee the FA will do everything they can to sweep this under the carpet as usual. And to the rest of the footballing world. You know he is right so open your mouth - as most of you are set for life, what have you got to lose?

Article written by Tris Burke