§ 25. Mr. Whiteheadasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the decision of the High Court in Cooke v. Football Association Limited, he will now reconsider his decision not to become involved with the football authorities in discussions relating to the law concerning transfers of players.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Eldon Griffiths)I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Mr. Money) on 10th April.—[Vol. 834, c. 127.]
§ Mr. WhiteheadDoes not the hon. Gentleman agree that if he could tell the Football League and the Football Association, when those two institutions 494 stop squabbling, that the ultimate decision about for whom highly skilled football players should play should rest with the players, a great deal would be achieved, just as it would be if his right hon. Friend introduced tax incentives for ground improvement rather than for trading in players and asked the League to set the transfer deadline earlier to stop the domination of the League by the eight or nine richest clubs, with one or two honourable exceptions?
§ Mr. GriffithsThe hon. Gentleman represents an area whose club still has aspirations. The financial aspects are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I regret the difference of opinion between the two football authorities, but it is a matter for them.
§ Mr. MoneyWill my hon. Friend say when the talks he expects to have with representatives of the Football Association, as mentioned in his Written Answer of 10th April, will take place? Will he bear in mind, in the light of the remarks of the hon. Member for Derby, North (Mr. Whitehead), that Ipswich Town has just taken nine points in five games, illustrating that the First Division is not dominated by the nine or ten richest clubs?
§ Mr. GriffithsI congratulate my hon. Friend on his avid support of the club, from which I am glad to see the club is benefiting. I have frequent meetings with the football authorities at which I discuss these matters with them, but I must insist that questions of football management are in the first instance a matter for the football authorities and not for me.