GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

delegate who most of you met in the earlier two days. He is actually at West

Brom today for the unveiling of a statue that has been commissioned for those

three fantastic players.

I cannot recall who our rep was at the time, doubtless a senior player, but I do

recall that the union held no interest for me. I joined because I was told to by

that senior player. I was not advised or encouraged. I had no idea what it did

or how membership would benefit me and genuinely wondered why people

who played football for a living needed a union. Interestingly enough, 45 years

later that is what people are saying to me: “Why do your players need a union?

All the battles are won. They are super rich. There are no issues”. Hopefully, I

can convince you that there are. What I did not realise at that time was that

players were bonded to their clubs, even after their contract expired, as the

club could hold their registration and secure a fee preventing many players

from bettering themselves financially, so their status never improved. Medical

support for players was wholly inadequate and entirely dependent on the status

of both the club and one’s status as a player. I think at the time sometimes

they would ensure the 11, 12, 13 people, top squad members, and nobody else

was covered by their medical insurance. I remember players breaking ankles

or whatever having to go down to Accident and Emergency and sit there

waiting. Now they are shipped straight off to one of the private hospitals and

given treatment immediately. You may think that is unfair, but if your whole

career rests on probably the first 48 hours of treatment then that can be

significant. I remember one old professional, a gambler with a passion for

greyhound racing, saying that the dogs at the race track that he attended got

better medical treatment than most players and we laughed, but, do you know

what, it was borderline truth.

As an apprentice most of the day was spent cleaning boots, doing laundry,

cleaning the dressing rooms, tending the pitch, moving equipment and

generally serving the needs of the senior players and staff. There was no

education, no wider development and very little support for young players. At

that time we did not have what we would call overseas players, but we did have

players moving across the country, moving from Scotland, moving from the

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