FA Elections results challenged
In a departure from our usual role within the disciplinary arena, Football Factors has been heavily involved in the ongoing and controversial FA Division Five Council Election this year. Although the FA regulations for this process are clearly laid out in the FA Handbook, the scandalous revelations and rule breaches which have surrounded these elections made national news in the sports pages.
As appointed representatives for Doncaster Rovers Chairman John Ryan, we worked with him to prepare and structure the campaign against the incumbent Barnsley FC’s Barry Taylor who had held the position for almost twenty years. Consequently, John Ryan knew that he had to make a strong challenge to stand any chance of success. With our advice and expertise John Ryan ran a strong campaign but at the first vote Ryan lost by the closest of margins, with the result being 9 – 8 in favour of his opponent. However, from the outset of the announcement of the result there was an immediate feeling that something was not quite right and our instincts proved to be right.
John Ryan, working with Football Factors immediately made it known that he had concerns about the outcome. He raised certain issues regarding the election process resulting in the FA appointing an independent lawyer with expertise of electoral issues to review the manner in which the election had been conducted. As a result of that review certain anomalies were reported by him which disclosed that a senior FA employee had acted contrary to their own election rules by accepting a telephone vote from a member club minutes before the election was due to close which secured a win for Taylor despite the fact that the vote was later rendered invalid. Further revelations revealed another invalid vote was counted in Taylor’s favour and in addition things then turned farcical when it was learnt that one club had submitted two votes.
It was clear that in our and John Ryan’s opinion that the true winner of the election in terms of the valid votes which were cast in accordance with the election rules was Doncaster’s John Ryan and long standing FA member Barry Taylor should have been displaced. Despite the fact that the true voting figures when not counting the invalid votes showed a clear 8-7 win for Ryan the FA, acting on the advice of the independent lawyer, considered it appropriate to let their long standing member, who was on the verge of securing a Life Membership Vice Presidency of the organisation have a second attempt to win the election by ordering a re-run which will now take place in early August.
It is largely because of our and John Ryan's tenacity by placing pressure on the FA that these events have been exposed, and the implications for the administration of FA elections are serious. It is hardly surprising that this made the headlines in the sports pages, when the FA blatantly flouted their own rules and thus called into question the legitimacy of an election held by them and serious questions must be asked of those involved in the process. As a result the FA now find themselves having had to overturn the voting result for probably the first time in its history.
The whole point of an election lies in its democracy, fairness, and transparency. If the FA cannot follow their own rules, then this matter highlights an urgent need for a review of their voting processes for the future. As far as we are concerned, we have relished this opportunity to show the versatility of our skills in a different context, and also proved how our expertise within the Football industry can be of paramount importance when assisting our clients.
In a departure from our usual role within the disciplinary arena, Football Factors has been heavily involved in the ongoing and controversial FA Division Five Council Election this year. Although the FA regulations for this process are clearly laid out in the FA Handbook, the scandalous revelations and rule breaches which have surrounded these elections made national news in the sports pages.
As appointed representatives for Doncaster Rovers Chairman John Ryan, we worked with him to prepare and structure the campaign against the incumbent Barnsley FC’s Barry Taylor who had held the position for almost twenty years. Consequently, John Ryan knew that he had to make a strong challenge to stand any chance of success. With our advice and expertise John Ryan ran a strong campaign but at the first vote Ryan lost by the closest of margins, with the result being 9 – 8 in favour of his opponent. However, from the outset of the announcement of the result there was an immediate feeling that something was not quite right and our instincts proved to be right.
John Ryan, working with Football Factors immediately made it known that he had concerns about the outcome. He raised certain issues regarding the election process resulting in the FA appointing an independent lawyer with expertise of electoral issues to review the manner in which the election had been conducted. As a result of that review certain anomalies were reported by him which disclosed that a senior FA employee had acted contrary to their own election rules by accepting a telephone vote from a member club minutes before the election was due to close which secured a win for Taylor despite the fact that the vote was later rendered invalid. Further revelations revealed another invalid vote was counted in Taylor’s favour and in addition things then turned farcical when it was learnt that one club had submitted two votes.
It was clear that in our and John Ryan’s opinion that the true winner of the election in terms of the valid votes which were cast in accordance with the election rules was Doncaster’s John Ryan and long standing FA member Barry Taylor should have been displaced. Despite the fact that the true voting figures when not counting the invalid votes showed a clear 8-7 win for Ryan the FA, acting on the advice of the independent lawyer, considered it appropriate to let their long standing member, who was on the verge of securing a Life Membership Vice Presidency of the organisation have a second attempt to win the election by ordering a re-run which will now take place in early August.
It is largely because of our and John Ryan's tenacity by placing pressure on the FA that these events have been exposed, and the implications for the administration of FA elections are serious. It is hardly surprising that this made the headlines in the sports pages, when the FA blatantly flouted their own rules and thus called into question the legitimacy of an election held by them and serious questions must be asked of those involved in the process. As a result the FA now find themselves having had to overturn the voting result for probably the first time in its history.
The whole point of an election lies in its democracy, fairness, and transparency. If the FA cannot follow their own rules, then this matter highlights an urgent need for a review of their voting processes for the future. As far as we are concerned, we have relished this opportunity to show the versatility of our skills in a different context, and also proved how our expertise within the Football industry can be of paramount importance when assisting our clients.
For further information please contact us.