Last year was a very special year for the PFA and on December 2, 2007 it was exactly 100 years to the day since the Association was formed at the Imperial Hotel, Manchester chaired by Billy Meredith along with colleagues from Manchester United, Manchester City and other North West and Midlands clubs. It was a very special day that conluded a magnificent centenary year.
On the evening of Saturday, December 1, Manchester City Council hosted a civic reception at the Town Hall for the PFA and on the Sunday, in spite of the weather, there was an excellent game between an England Legends XI captained by Alan Shearer and the Rest of the World XI captained by Gianfranco Zola at the City of Manchester Stadium, covered by Sky television and a match of great entertainment and quality goals.
The England side was managed by Terry Venables and the Rest of the World team managed by Sven-Goran Eriksson who, of course, has now left England to manage Mexico and we wish him well. The day was concluded with a magnificent centenary Gala Dinner at Manchester Central starring Mick Hucknall and attended by representatives from all over the world and our own football Knights - Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Robson and Sir Tom Finney.
Our goal was to raise enough money to build a rehabilitation unit for the new Manchester Children's Hospital and I am pleased to tell you that we have managed to achieve our goal. I would like to thank everyone who contributed in marking a very special birthday for the oldest sporting union in the world.
Whilst it was unfortunate that our international side did not qualify for the European Championship finals, many of our members still featured very prominently and the Premier League in this country provided the most players for the tournament. Special congratulations go to Spain in winning the competition and great performances from the contender for our Player of the Year Award, Fernando Torres, and our Young Player of the Year, Cesc Fabregas.
New position for me and the PFA
The PFA now has a position on the FA Council, as I have been appointed to the International Committee which has given me a chance to see first hand the influence of the new manager, Fabio Capello.
I travelled with the team for the Andorra and Croatia games and witnessed the new focus and determination shown by the team with two excellent victories.
With the 100 per cent success rate in the qualifying games so far, I feel very confident that we shall achieve qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I would also like to mention the success of our Under 21 side under the management of Stuart Pearce and wish them every success for the European finals next summer.
I was also very pleased to accept an invitation from the Football League Chairmen to address their conference in the summer and to make clear the contribution that the PFA makes to the Football League in many areas from youth development and medical cover to community work. This was well-received.
Financial
It is also fair to say that we have continued to help those clubs who struggled financially and had to go into administration.
With new Football League rules requiring an exit route through a Company Voluntary Administration this has not always been possible as often a major creditor has been the Inland Revenue who challenged the football creditor rule whereby players and football clubs have to have their debts paid in full.
As a result, AFC Bournemouth, Luton Town and Rotherham United were deducted points in line with the deduction given to Leeds United and to a great extent this affects the credibility of the competition although in these days of the financial credit crunch, it is difficult to criticise the Football League for a rule which is trying to encourage financial propriety.
With regard to our own financial position, I am pleased to say that our assets have been protected in safe havens and our policy of realising capital gains over the years has stood us in good stead in these testing times.
In addition, we have concluded a new successful four year deal with the Premier League with regard to our television income in line with our breakthrough agreement of 2001. We are looking to conclude similarly satisfactory arrangements with the Football Association and the Football League.
* More insight from the Chief Executive's report here on givemefootball later in the week.
