FCupdate - a round-up of news from around the football world

Welcome to the first edition of FCupdate, a regular weekly round-up of news and views from around the football world that should appeal to fans of a supporter-owned club like FC United.

We hope that FCupdate will give you your weekly fan-owned football hit every Monday. Enjoy this first edition and do let us know if you see anything that we should be letting others know about.

2010 review finds football in "state of moral and financial bankruptcy"
As members of our own club, FC United supporters know all about the advantages of being a key part of a fans’-owned football club that is free from big business control. Unfortunately, our way of doing things is not the norm in football, as this review of football finance in 2010 only too clearly shows. Read more at www.twohundredpercent.net.

Will new FA chairman stand up to Premier League?
The new chairman of the Football Association will have to do better than his predecessor in standing up to the Premier league and the government if proposals to reform the game for the better are to have a chance of success, says the Guardian’s David Conn in this well argued article. More at www.guardian.co.uk.

Welling United fans dig deep to save club
Supporters of Welling United Football Club have dug deep to save their club from being wound-up by HM Revenue and Customs, raising almost £45,000 in a matter of days. Thirty supporters of the Conference South side stepped forward to offer cash of between £500 and £3,000 as short loans to stop the club from being wound up. Read more at FC Business.

FC United supports campaign to stop deportation of Mehdi Mirzae
FC United of Manchester is asking fans to help stop the deportation to Afghanistan of local sports coordinator Mehdi Mirzae. The club has made an appeal to all members and supporters to support the campaign to halt Mehdi’s deportation and Mehdi’s supporters were at Gigg lane for the game against Bradford on Saturday to get support. For full details of how to support the campaign see Mehdi Mirzae.

Mansfield in crisis - happy ending in sight?
The continuing crisis at Mansfield Town which has seen the team locked out of their ground, potentially homeless and facing expulsion from the Conference for not fulfilling their fixtures, may be set for a happy ending with the club set to move back to their Field Mill stadium. More at www.twohundredpercent.net.

Wakefield Trinity could be forced to ground share with Barnsley
It’s not just football clubs that have problems with ground issues. Rugby League’s Wakefield Trinity, after learning that their outline planning permission for a separate stadium has been called in for a public inquiry by the communities secretary Eric Pickles, now faces a ground share with Barnsley . More at www.guardian.co.uk.

Quatar ‘wins’ Barcelona’s shirt as well as the 2022 World Cup
Barcelona, who have prided themselves on not taking the corporate shilling for shirt sponsorship, will soon be paid to carry a sponsor on their shirt – for the first time in their 111-year history. A deal with the Qatar Foundation will earn the Catalan club €30m (£25m) a year until 2016. The €150m deal, the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in football history, is already provoking controversy amongst Barcelona members who oppose the idea of paid sponsorship on their shirt. More at www.guardian.co.uk.

Taboos, Troubles and Trusts – new book well worth a look
A new book by Lincoln City fan Rob Bradley should be of interest to FC United fans. In Taboos, Troubles and Trusts, Rob has produced a collection of tales that touch on, tackle, or tear apart some of the taboos and topics of football today. The book is dedicated to the memory of former Lincoln City manager Keith Alexander, who sadly died last year and all proceeds go to the Imps Trust. More at http://supporters-direct.org

Web links to supporter-owned clubs
For further information on fans-owned football, a reminder that the FC United website has a page of links to supporter owned clubs around the world at www.fc-utd.co.uk/links. The page also has links to other supporters groups and also lists those organisations that FC United is affiliated to.

Football Supporters Federation
A quick plug for the FSF before we sign off. The Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF) is a democratically-run, national supporters’ organisation for all football fans comprising more than 180,000 individual fans and members of local supporters’ organisations from every club in the professional structure and many from the pyramid. For further information on the FSF, including how to join see www.fsf.org.uk.