Players step up bid to force out PFA boss Taylor
BEN PURKISS, the PFA chairman pushing for change at the players’ union, has support from more than 200 former and current players who want to end Gordon Taylor’s 37-year reign.
The group have signed an open letter calling for the election of a new chief executive.
As Sportsmail revealed last week, civil war has broken out at the PFA after documents suggested Taylor had responded to a request by Purkiss to have an independent governance review by essentially trying to oust the 34-year-old as chairman.
But Purkiss, who was at Wembley for England’s victory over Croatia yesterday, has highlevel backing in the form of explayers Chris Sutton, Danny Murphy, Robbie Savage, Craig Short and Ian Wright.
The group of 200 is made up of players who, for different reasons, have lost faith in Taylor’s leadership of their union.
As Sportsmail revealed on Saturday, the PFA may be in breach of strict trade union guidelines that demand the chief executive and general secretary stand for re-election every five years. Indeed, the same rule is in the PFA handbook.
Sources whose experience of the PFA dates back more than three decades say they have no recollection of Taylor having to stand for re- election at the annual general meeting in his 37 years in charge.
Indeed, when the question was put to PFA trustees by this newspaper in September, former PFA chairman Garth Crooks said Taylor did not have to stand for re-election because he was an employee.
Of the seven PFA trustees contacted via email with a list of questions, only Tottenham-starturned-TV- pundit Crooks replied.
Crooks, who served as PFA chairman between 1988 and 1990, said: ‘The CEO is not elected but a paid employee in exactly the same manner as the CEO of the Premier League, the EFL, FA and the LMA.’
To another question in the same email, namely: ‘When was the last time Gordon Taylor was elected and what is the duration of his term as chief executive (or general secretary in trade union terms)?’, Crooks responded: ‘As stated, no election process for the officers of the organisation, they are all employees.’
A spokesman for the certification officer, which acts in part as a regulator for trade unions, said: ‘The law requires that the general secretary is elected every five years.’
Savage spoke publicly yesterday, querying why Taylor was paid £2.29million last year to make him the highest paid union official in the world.
He also supported the call by Purkiss for an independent review and agreed with the Walsall defender that the organisation needed to modernise.
Sportsmail has seen the letter that is being circulated among players. It reads: ‘You may have seen that Ben Purkiss (PFA chairman) has called for an independent review of the PFA. We are backing his call and would like to also call for a fair and democratic election of a new PFA chief executive. Throughout our careers, we have never had a vote and this has to change.
‘The PFA needs to be open and accessible to all. Every player should know when and how to vote and the PFA must be run by people willing to be open, transparent and democratic.
‘We call for Gordon Taylor to step down and allow the PFA to modernise and evolve.
‘Please can you support this call for an independent review and democratic election by agreeing to add your name in support of these requests.
‘The futures of all former current and former players depend on us having a fair, democratic and transparent union.
‘If you can text or email me back to confirm your support, I will add your name to our letter which is gathering pace and numbers. Thank you.’
The letter will be sent to the PFA management committee that is made up of current players; a committee that, it is understood, remains supportive of Purkiss.
Last week, as Sportsmail revealed, Taylor sent a letter to the 92 club delegates saying this week’s AGM had been adjourned because the eligibility of Purkiss as chairman had been called into question by his switch at the start of the season to a non-contract player at Walsall.
Historically, non- contract players have been allowed to remain members of the PFA but it is on this basis that Purkiss’s position is under threat.
Purkiss is refusing to budge, backed not just by a QC’s opinion that contradicts the PFA’s view, but also by a growing number of fellow professional footballers, both current and former.