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'Bunch of tosspots'

Ex-FA chairman Greg Dyke calls governing body ‘bunch of tosspots’ who do not want to change over axed Wembley sale

The former FA boss thinks selling Wembley was an attractive proposition and believes the board does not have the guts to enforce a levy on transfers or agents

Dyke was the FA chairman between 2013 and 2016 before quitting over disputes regarding reform of the governing body

GREG DYKE has branded FA members who helped block the sale of Wembley Stadium as "tosspots who don't want change".

Former FA chairman Dyke, 71, quit his position in 2016 after three years in the role over disputes concerning reform within the governing body.

 Greg Dyke labelled members of the FA board who helped block the sale of Wembley as 'tosspots who don't want change'
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Greg Dyke labelled members of the FA board who helped block the sale of Wembley as 'tosspots who don't want change'Credit: PA:Press Association
 Dyke was the FA chairman between 2013 and 2016 before quitting over disputes regarding reform of the governing body
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Dyke was the FA chairman between 2013 and 2016 before quitting over disputes regarding reform of the governing bodyCredit: PA:Press Association

He told , “The trouble with the FA Council is that it is full of complete tosspots who don’t want change.

“When we launched the Parklife scheme there were people from the rural FAs who complained they wanted their share when it was obvious you needed to start in the big cities.

“Selling Wembley was an attractive proposition but you have to be certain you can get that money into the right parts of the grass roots of the game.

“If you have people competing for the money, and then others like the EFL saying they want 25 per cent of it for their own clubs’ projects, that starts to muddy the waters.”

 Dyke believed selling Wembley was an 'attractive proposition' but it is now not for sale according to the FA
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Dyke believed selling Wembley was an 'attractive proposition' but it is now not for sale according to the FACredit: EPA
Shahid Khan withdraws 'divisive' £600m offer to buy Wembley Stadium

Dyke was supportive of Gary Neville's plan to levy agents' fees but fears the FA would be unable to enforce the change, which would raise the Football Foundation's annual budget of £55million by almost half with a ten per cent levy.

He added: “If the FA had the guts they could put a levy on the Premier League clubs for every time they did a transfer or paid an agent, but it would lead to a real bust-up with the clubs.

"I’m not sure they do have the guts to do that. There are other ways of generating money — if you want a large lump sum now for grass roots then you can borrow it against future income and pay it off from TV rights and income from the stadium.

“You have to have sympathy with local government — they have been cut and cut, year on year. You can’t even be sure they will pay match funding.

 Dyke supported Gary Neville's suggestion of introducing a levy on agents' fees
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Dyke supported Gary Neville's suggestion of introducing a levy on agents' feesCredit: AFP or licensors
 He feels the governing body do not have the 'guts' to enforce such a proposal, though
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He feels the governing body do not have the 'guts' to enforce such a proposal, thoughCredit: Getty Images - Getty

"That’s why the Parklife scheme in Birmingham died, they had no money and couldn’t pay their bit of match funding.”

Fulham owner Shahid Khan withdrew his £600m bid to buy the national stadium this week.

But FA chief executive Martin Glenn rebuffed claims of a plot within the council to block the sale.

And Glenn is unconvinced a levy on agents or transfers would be possible.

 Shahid Khan withdrew his £600million offer to buy the national stadium this week
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Shahid Khan withdrew his £600million offer to buy the national stadium this weekCredit: AP:Associated Press
 FA chief executive Martin Glenn denied suggestions of a plot to prevent the sale going through
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FA chief executive Martin Glenn denied suggestions of a plot to prevent the sale going throughCredit: Getty Images - Getty

He told the : “Gary Neville would say put a tax on agents and a windfall tax on the Premier League. Good luck with that.

"But the value of where we are is that the whole thing is now a wider debate among politicians and other people who can make a difference.

“They [Khan] have walked away from the deal, we haven’t. A lot of people — the Premier League, the Government, Sport England — all saw this as a great deal for football.”

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