Gordon Taylor
Chief Executive

On behalf of all members and staff of the Professional Footballers’ Association I wish to say how proud we all are to be part of the PFA as the oldest established sporting union enters its 100 th year. We kicked off our centenary year on January 10 th by launching our “One Goal One Million” campaign. The campaign will involve a whole year of fundraising activities with the aim of raising £1 million to fully fund a new Children’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Unit at the University Children’s Hospital, Manchester.

Throughout the year the PFA will be running a number of high-profile events involving current and former players and managers with the sole purpose of reaching the £1 million target. Events are in the process of being planned and include a pro-celebrity golf event, race days and events involving our younger supporters. On the day that the PFA was formed in 1907 – December 2 nd – there will be a match between an England Legends XI, captained by Alan Shearer and managed by Terry Venables, against a World Legends XI captained by Gianfranco Zola and managed by Jurgen Klinsmann, culminating in a Gala Dinner in the evening involving a host of top entertainers.

It is an opportunity to pay tribute to those early founding fathers who, following on from the establishment of the rules of the game and the Football Association in 1863, saw the beginnings and the acceptance of professionalism in 1885 with the formation of the Football League in 1888 by businessmen keen to involve their clubs in more than just the FA Cup and also the beginning of the game as a commercial interest compared to those at the FA who came from a public school background and were keen to maintain the Corinthian and sporting aspect of the game.

With the development of the league, the registration process began by which a player became tied to a club as a professional and could not leave that club without the club’s permission. Following on from that restriction in the cause of “equal opportunities” came the introduction of the maximum wage and at the same time such professional players were not accorded normal working men’s rights under the law of the land covering such serious issues as injuries and compensation. It was inevitable that accompanying the industrialisation of the British economy and the introduction of trade unions that attempts would be made to organise players and after earlier attempts had failed, a meeting in Manchester saw the attendance of Manchester United and Manchester City players together with representatives of many clubs, predominantly from the North and the Midlands.

Under the Chairmanship of Billy Meredith and the drive of Charlie Roberts, both of Manchester United, they attempted to formalise a players’ structure with the aim of being elected to the FA Council and being the formal democratically elected voice of the players. Such actions were viewed as a threat by the Football Association who were worried about players’ strikes and frowned upon the Players’ Association’s attempts to join the Federation of Trade Unions in 1909 which caused a lock out of players and eventually led to a recognition of the union by the FA.

Since that time the maximum wage has been removed and freedom of contract has been achieved together with many other benefits particularly the rights of the PFA to source its income from television fees since the 1950’s, the development of satellite television in the 1980’s and the formation of the Premier League in 1992. The union has grown and developed into the powerful organisation it is today with offices in Manchester, Birmingham and London, having a part to play in every aspect of the game affecting players, dealing with every aspect of a player’s career under a formal collective bargaining agreement, having membership of many other sporting organisations and playing an effective part in the worldwide organisation of football players through FIFPro and having representation on FIFA and UEFA Committees.

The forefathers would have been proud of the progress we have made from the Chairmanship of Billy Meredith to Chris Powell and in between times many significant personalities of the calibre of Jimmy Hill, Sir Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Guthrie, Sammy Crooks and modern day Chairmen such as Steve Coppell, Brian Talbot and Garth Crooks to name but some.

In honouring the contribution of our members over 100 years we will continue to expand our policies of not only being good for the players but good for the game in general. We have played a massive role in the defeat of hooliganism and have worked hard to combat other major issues such as our very successful campaign Kick Racism Out of Football, which is seen as a role model for the rest of the world, together with the development of our Football in the Community initiative and many other areas dedicated to improving the contribution of players and improving the image and attraction of the game.

We look forward to another 100 years of progress and as Steve Coppell said in 1983 “the PFA is not just about winning medals or trophies, it is about sharing spirit, dignity and pride. It is about having the privilege of earning your living from the world’s greatest game” and may I add it is also about leaving the game in an even better state than when we joined it as we hope to continue to enhance the role of the PFA in the future as our many Members, Chairmen, Secretaries and Management Committee members have done in the past.

Gordon Taylor

Chief Executive, PFA and Honorary President of FIFPro

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