Interesting lecture with eL potential- London heads look in!
Got this form one of the mailing lists I am a member of, been at one or two on other topics in the past but can't make it this time round. Any London heads who would be interested in going? It would great to hear this fellas views and insight into their experience
* The Administrative Challenge of Managing a Professional Football
League and National Team In a Small European Nation in the 21st Century:
The Case of Wales
Yours sincerely
Sean Hamil
Research Seminar: The Football Governance Research Centre
School of Management and Organizational Psychology
Birkbeck, University of London
Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX
Wednesday 8th December, 6pm-8pm
Venue Room 101 Foster Court, University College London
(Off Torrington Place WC1 opposite Waterstones Bookstore)
See: http://www.football-research.bbk.ac....ercourtmap.doc for a location
map
The Administrative Challenge of Managing a Professional Football League
and National Team In a Small European Nation in the 21st Century: The
Case of Wales
Alun Evans
Chairman, The League of Wales (The Welsh Premier)
Member, Welsh FA Council
The perceived drift in power from national football associations, and
their major international associations Uefa and Fifa, to the major clubs
has been a staple of press commentary on the football industry over the
last ten years. In Europe the most influential clubs have formed their
own association G14 to assert their influence. Within the English
game recent comments by Newcastle chairman Freddie Shepherd (see reading
below) regarding the desirability of the Premier League taking over the
Football League have provided an insight into the highly
commercially-driven agenda of some Premier League chairmen and their
very negative attitudes to the conventional competitive and regulatory
structures of the game. This raises questions as to the strategic
response the games traditional custodians and regulators, the national
associations, should .adopt in the face of this onslaught
Alan Evans was the founder of League of Wales (now the Welsh Premier),
and Chief Executive of the Welsh FA from 1982 to 1995. During that time
he also sat on many FIFA and UEFA regulatory committees. He remains a
member of the Welsh FA Council and is currently the Chairman of the
League of Wales. His wide-ranging experience puts him in a unique
position to assess how recent developments have affected the structure
and nature of competition both at the national level in countries like
Wales, and at international level in Europes main club competitions and
in the European Nations Championship.
Alan will present the case that, while the traditional regulatory
framework has been subjected to much criticism of late, it remains the
most effective structure to both develop the game and protect and
nurture the grass-roots which are essential for its long-term survival.
He will also argue that while the traditional structures are quite
capable of adapting to the more dynamic commercial environment which
takes account of the financial demands of clubs, it is not at al clear
that alternative `big-club driven structures might have the capability
to protect the games grass-roots.
Reading
