Professional Football (Regulation)

I once had shares. Of course, they have now gone, because they have been liquidated and that has applied across the board. So we must find a way of involving the fans in the governance and running of the clubs and the leagues. I want to finish on a very personal level. I mentioned the Munich air crash before. I can remember the impact on the city of Manchester when those young men died—at the time, when I was a boy, they were men to me. It had a profound effect on a city such as mine. That memory is still strong and vivid, and it is not a memory just for one generation; it is carried down culturally from one generation to the next. The same would apply to people in the cities of Liverpool, York or Portsmouth, or wherever. Actually, I am one of those people in Manchester who has always watched both football clubs; I watched Manchester City as well as Manchester United. I can talk about City players from the past such as Johnny Crossan and not just the famous City players such as Lee, Bell, Young and Summerbee. In the end, football does matter. It is about our tribal identities. That can be bad, in the worst excesses. But football is the beautiful game; it is the game that ennobles people if it is played in the right way, and it is the game that is about giving entertainment but also values if it is played in the right way. Most of us grew up thinking that those role models—the captain of England, when it was Bobby Moore or Billy Wright—were sterling people who had values that carried us through in life. I look back to that older generation who gave me those values, and I am grateful for that. We should not put that at peril by saying that football is only a commodity to be bought and sold; if we do so, I am afraid that we betray this beautiful game of ours, and we betray the heritage that we ought to hold precious. I have spoken at length; I hope that other Members might have the chance to speak.