GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

Smith. Each came from a different industrial background and all brought

through their individual experiences a new perspective and skillset to the

federation and I hope that I can use my own experience to add material benefit

to the federation over the next two years.

A little bit about myself, because you are all familiar faces and perhaps you

know that I was somehow somewhere in the dim and distant past involved in

football as a player. I know it is hard to believe and Ronnie always rolls his

eyes in disbelief! I have been a member of my own union, the PFA, since I

entered the world of professional football at the age of 16. The club I joined

was Middlesbrough and at the time it was managed by a World Cup winner,

Jack Charlton, who, having retired from playing, moved straight into

management. He was young, full of determination and fiercely ambitious. In

his first season he took them into the top flight of English football. It should

have been an exciting time for me, but the culture within the industry then was

probably the most brutal I have ever encountered. It was the year of the tackle

from behind, the intentional jaw breaking elbow to the face and before TV or

video scrutinised every incident it was an era in which off the ball violence, I

mean serious off the ball violence, personal vendettas and obscene abuse

were the order of the day and that was just on the pitch. Off the pitch football

stadia all over the country, and this is something else that we touched on

earlier, were being used as battlegrounds between rival fans or breeding

grounds for extreme right wing movements such as the National Front. There

was little diversity in the game, with only a handful of black players visible on

the pitch and racism was rife. Those who did make the breakthrough faced the

most vile racial abuse and were inevitably singled out for special attention by

hostile fans during every game they played, every single game they played.

The most noticeable were West Brom players such as Laurie Cunningham and

Cyril Regis, sadly both no longer with us. The other prominent player amongst

these West Brom legends was Brendon Batson, later to become the Deputy

CEO of the PFA and somebody who also played an important role in my life,

both as a role model and after my playing career which I will come on to later.

At this moment I would just like to tender Paul Raven, my colleague and

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