(14-07-2014 14:24 )mickster Wrote: I always thought the FA was / is the Premier League .
The FA have drawn up more "blueprints" than the average architect .Trouble is they never see them through .Look at the fiasco over the Academy Centre (Pride Park is it called ?) .Half built then mothballed for a few years .Recently completed .There's no fluency in their actions .
Then there's the old Club v Country chestnut ,that always rears its head .
The England national team always fares low down on the agenda for most club chairman / owners .
No, the FA is the official governing body for the sport and responsible for all of the lower leagues and, of course, the FA Cup. It was responsible for the old "First Division" of the Football League, which -- in 1991 -- broke away to incorporate as a separate business that was called the Premier League.
The critical issue was the distribution of television income. All of the value was generated by a handful of top clubs, but the income was distributed across the whole game (including all of the lower leagues, grassroots football, the England team, game administration, etc.). At a time when the top clubs were faced with massive bills for stadia upgrade in the wake of Hillsborough, Heysel, etc., they argued that they could get a better deal for themselves and their supporters if they broke away from the Football League.
Ironically, it was Greg Dyke -- when he was chairman of LWT -- who precipitated the whole thing. Now he is chairman of The FA and dealing with the consequences of his own actions. So he will always be reluctant to voice too much criticism of the PL, because he was the Dr Frankenstein and the Premier League is
his monster!
Importantly, it is the FA that is a member of organisations like FIFA and UEFA, so the Premier League needed FA support to remain in international competitions and to retain credibility when it was first being founded. To establish the Premier League in the first place, the clubs needed the FA's blessing. That's why the FA retains the power to set the rules, discipline players and clubs, and pronounce on things like "fit and proper person" tests for club ownership.
A key mistake that they made -- though I suppose it only seems obvious in hindsight -- is to
not insist on some key provisions like the availability of players for international duty or the FA's jurisdiction over academy set-ups and other aspects of club management that have a material impact on the national team. Now the Premier League has so much money, power and clout that the FA cannot force these measures on them and every issue is a matter of negotiation. Hence the dysfunction!
Pride Park is Derby County's stadium. I think you are talking about the National Football Centre, which is not far away in Burton. You're right that it was an on-again-off-again project that was finally completed last year. Whether or not it will have any effect remains to be seen. The players seem to rave about how good it is, but I don't see why that should make any difference, when they already spend most of their time at the state-of-the-art training grounds of Chelsea, ManU, Liverpool, etc... How can a few days at Burton -- no matter how good it is -- make any real difference? On the other hand, the FA is constantly harping that its primary goal is not to train players, but to train coaches. That has to be a good thing, if it's true.