FCupdate - a weekly round-up of world football news

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

FCupdate gives you a weekly fan-owned football hit every Monday. We hope you enjoy the latest edition and do let us know if you see anything that we should be including in future issues.

Government inquiry into football to hear fans’ voice soon
The Select Committee for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s inquiry into Football Governance started last week. The inquiry’s remit is to address "broader concerns that current and future generations of football supporters of clubs across the country are ill-served by current football regulations." FC United have been working with Supporters Direct on their evidence to the inquiry and chief executive Dave Boyle has been asked to give evidence at a future hearing, which are being held over the next seven weeks. Read more at Supporters Direct.

Supporters trust launches Cambridge United bid
Great to see that a supporters trust, Cambridge Fans United (CFU), have launched a bid to transform Cambridge United into a community club. Last month the U’s board put the club up for sale owing to escalating costs and invited CFU to help decide the future of their team. Read more at BBC Sport.

Fans club together to claim fair share
You know when an idea is starting to gain traction when it becomes increasingly talked about and commented upon, especially by the mainstream media. Such an idea is fans owning shares and having a say about the way that their football clubs are run. BBC sports reporter Matt Slater (@bbc_matt on Twitter) writes in his latest blog on the BBC website on just this subject. Check out Matt Slater’s blog.

Forest Green takes healthy stand and takes burgers and sausages off the menu
Burgers and sausages have been banned from being sold to fans at Forest Green Rovers football club. The move was introduced for players at the Blue Square Bet Premier club a few weeks ago but now the policy has been extended to the whole stadium and healthier alternatives will be added to the menu. The Gloucestershire club is owned by Dale Vince, a vegan, who runs green electricity company Ecotricity. Read more at BBC Gloucestershire.

Stirling Albion players help out club by giving up wages
Full credit to the players of Stirling Albion who have agreed en masse, and apparently without any prompting, to go unpaid for the month of February to help the trust-owned club out. In an age when many much-better paid players are accused of greed and screwing the sport for all they can get, this is a tremendous gesture – and they’ve agreed to forego the wages, not just to defer them. Read more on this and other news from Scotland in this article at TwoHundredPercent .

Plymouth Argyle survive winding up order but troubles continue
Plymouth Argyle’s short-term survival has been secured after a winding-up petition from HM Revenue & Customs was dismissed in the High Court. The club paid off the £760,000 tax bill that led to the winding-up petition being presented but problems remain at Home Park, with the players still awaiting their January wages. More at BBC Sport.

Ex-Sky man Keys hits new low as Mirror reports racist slur
Former Sky pundit Richard Keys, who was sacked by the channel following sexist remarks he made along with colleague Andy Gray, is in hot water again after a tape of him allegedly making racist comments came to light. Read more at The Mirror. Wonder what Keys’ new employers TalkSport will make of this latest revelation?

Olympic Stadium could mean massive windfall for West Ham’s owners
The expected decision to hand the Olympic Stadium to West Ham United looks like handing a £600m jackpot for the club’s owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, says David Conn in an interesting and incisive piece in The Guardian. As usual, Conn gets to the heart of the matter and poses various questions that still need to be answered about the money side of the decision to hand the stadium to the Hammers. Read more at The Guardian.

Kidderminster staves off administration threat
Kidderminster Harriers fans and former directors of the club have donated money to help the club to fight off the threat of administration. £14,000 has also been raised by the Kidderminster Harriers Independent Supporters Trust and the Harriers, who owed £155,000, have now staved off the immediate threat of a Company Voluntary Agreement. Read more at BBC Sport and also worth a visit is the Kidderminster Harriers Independent Supporters’ Trust website .

The Non League Football Show
Those of you into podcasts might be interested in BBC London’s The Non League Football Show. Unsurprisingly, it’s a bit southern focused but still worth a listen despite that. The latest edition of the show also contains an update on the Kidderminster Harriers situation. You can listen or download .

Watching Football Is Not A Crime! – free FSF event
Watching Football Is Not A Crime! is a free Football Supporters’ Federation event, hosted by The Guardian’s award-winning writer David Conn. The event, which takes place in Sheffield on 3 March 2011, gives football fans their chance to put questions to a panel of experts including leading journalists, police and Home Office figures. The event will address a series of issues including: Are football fans discriminated against? Unnecessary early kick offs thrust on fans by the police; the right to stand at the game; and the use of Section 27 and Football Banning Orders. For further details and to register your place at this free event see the FSF website.