PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor recommends Sport Resolutions to lead review into players' union
Saturday 24 November 2018 10:35, UK
Gordon Taylor has recommended that Sport Resolutions lead an independent review into the Professional Footballers' Association's structure and operations.
Taylor, who has been chief executive of the PFA for the last 37 years, has come under fire over the last week over discrepancies between his salary and what the body spends to support players with mental health issues and brain injuries.
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PFA chairman Ben Purkiss is among past and current players to have called for Taylor's reign to be brought to an end, although there has also been support for the 73-year-old.
Taylor had already indicated his desire for an independent review, and he confirmed on Saturday in The Times that he had recommended Sport Resolutions to the PFA Board of Trustees and Management Committee.
"As my leadership is one of the areas which has been criticised, it's only right that an independent body leads this review," Taylor wrote in a column which started with the line "The last week won't go down as the best in the PFA's 111-year history."
"The PFA have nothing to hide. We are happy to open our doors to the review, putting our record and our integrity in full view. We hope that others will do the same.
"I hope, and believe, the review will find that we have got more right than wrong. Where it identifies short-comings in what we do or in our structures and leadership, we will work, I promise, to put them right.
"Football needs a strong PFA and it's important that we are working together to support the players on the pitch. It is what I'd expect if I was one of our members in those dressing rooms today. It has always been their interests which guide our work.
"We owe it to all our members to hold ourselves to the highest standards and keep challenging ourselves to improve. I believe we do, but it is important that we should not hide from criticism or sweep it under the carpet."
