Ken Bates: "They have no moral authority to sell it as it doesn't belong to them. The directors of the FA are just passing through, they are the trustees. How dare they even consider selling it."
Friday 27 April 2018 07:52, UK
Former chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited Ken Bates tells Johnny Phillips why the FA should not consider selling Wembley.
One of the key figures involved in the building of Wembley Stadium has launched a blistering attack on the Football Association, in the wake of a proposed sale of the stadium to billionaire Shahid Khan.
Ken Bates was chairman of Wembley National Stadium Limited between 1997 and 2001 and oversaw the initial stages of the project to build the country's national stadium.
"I'm saying it must not be sold. The FA are just the custodians of the national game for the people of this country," says Bates.
"They have no moral authority to sell it as it doesn't belong to them. The directors of the FA are just passing through, they are the trustees. How dare they even consider selling it. The FA never had a proper home until we got Wembley."
Khan - who has made an offer believed to be in the region of £800m - says he hopes to complete the purchase of Wembley in the next eight to 12 weeks. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham owner said that England games would remain at the venue and that the name would be retained, but Bates believes that once the stadium is sold, there will be no guarantees.
"Talk is cheap, we've heard that sort of thing before haven't we?" Bates adds. "I have not heard an upside to this yet. It's ridiculous. If we went and bought Madison Square Garden in New York and said 'oh, we're happy for the Americans to have their teams playing there when they want', do me a favour - can you imagine that? I would suggest Mr Khan concentrates on getting Fulham back into the Premier League."
Bates believes that the issue goes beyond any commercial reasoning. In his eyes, Wembley is a monument to the English game and its supporters
"Wembley Stadium is the ordinary football fan's Mecca. It is the place where the ordinary fan dreams of going to once in his lifetime," he continues. "When I worked on it, the government wanted an 80,000 capacity but I pushed for 90,000. I'd have had 100,000 if I could, because it's for the people.
"A working class fan would save up for a trip to Wembley as a day in a lifetime. Even though I'm a very hard Conservative, if necessary I would say let's nationalise Wembley Stadium to make sure it is owned by the people and can never be sold off.
"You can't take this away from the fans. We've got Wembley Stadium, the best in the country with quality facilities and a 90,000 capacity. From the VIP with the expensive ticket to the ordinary fan, they all have a great seat at that stadium."
In answer to the argument that funds generated from any sell-off of the stadium could be put towards grassroots funding at the bottom of the football pyramid, Bates remains unconvinced.
"The FA and the Premier League should be paying for grassroots football with the millions they already generate," he argues.
"The FA should be spending that money on grassroots football anyway without the need to sell Wembley. They'll only waste the money generated from this and we'll be homeless again."
