Fan-led review, Blackpool's new training and referees discussed by Ben Mansford and Brett Gerrity at fans' meeting

Chief executive Ben Mansford (BM) and director Brett Gerrity (BG) took part in a Q&A on Saturday as invited guests before Blackpool’s game against Luton Town.

During the meeting, which was held at the Armfield Club, the duo revealed further investment has been made to the club’s current training ground base at Squires Gate.

As for the new long-term plans at Grange Park, Mansford said costs have already spiralled up from around £8-12m to upwards of £20m.

Here’s what was said on the key topics:

What’s the latest news on the plans for a new training ground?

BM: A lot won’t be aware, but we’ve invested again in the facility at Squires Gate. During the World Cup break there will be another building going in which will be a gym, which we’ve found to be a real issue with the players. Simon (Sadler) will be investing another six-figure sum in the current facility during the November break. In terms of the long-term plan, we are well underway. We’re into preparations for the planning application and we will work hard to do that. As I’m sure you’re all aware, this is a really challenging time at the moment and inflationary pressures on builders and contractors is going to be really difficult and challenging. Everyone’s intention is to move things forward with the training ground, a lot of money is being spent, upwards of £20m, and that is much different to when I first started looking at sites nearly three years ago to the day, because it was £8 to £12m. Now we’re in excess of £20m.

How urgent is it that we get improved football regulation? And will the club consider joining Fair Game?

BM: We can both speak from now until the end of today’s game about the fan-led review and the importance of it. In relation to Fair Game, I’ve got a session booked in with them during the November break to understand what they do a little bit more. A letter was sent out but before the club signs up for anything it would need board involvement and certainly Simon’s involvement. What I said to Fair Game was that you’ve got a club that are thoroughly engaged in the process. I was listening to directors from a club we played recently saying they generate £37m a year and they couldn’t believe they’ve got to compete with a club that gets £44m without commercial income because of parachute payments, which are clearly anti-competitive and it’s not right they get their way. The paper was promised in the Autumn, so I’m not sure what’s happened, but it’s absolutely critical. The fan-led review is critical because there needs to be a redistribution of the monies within football. The FA isn’t fit for purpose in my opinion, the FA has been missing since Covid broke out and they’ve played a subservient part to the progression of the Premier League across 30+ years. For me, we need people who know how to govern. Simon has been at meetings and has had opportunities to speak to Conservative MPs, so we are fully engaged in the process and we are very much behind a lot of what exists with the fan-led review.

BG: When the government talks about levelling up, one of the best ways they can achieve that would be the redistribution of the income from the Premier League to filter down to clubs like Blackpool who would then spend that money on the infrastructure of the club. Not on wages, not on agent fees, but to help develop areas where it’s most needed. Blackpool is a really good example of that. Simon has made that representation. One of the best examples of what is wrong with football is that, during the recent transfer window, our football club spoke with two ex-Premier League footballers, who had earned circa £30m within a very short period of time and we made very generous contract offers but they would rather stay in bed than accept the offer that was made to them. They didn’t go anywhere else, they just chose not to play and that probably sums up what is wrong with football that there is so much money around at the top level that it makes it very difficult for clubs like Blackpool to compete. If there is to be levelling up, let’s start with that money filtering down so the likes of Simon can put that money back into the community. I must emphasise that, not on players, not on transfer fees, but building the infrastructure of the football club so the community can prosper and benefit.

Racist chanting has been clamped down on and so has homophobic chanting. But when are you going to clamp down on sexist chanting?

BG: As a club we do not tolerate any crime of any variance, whether it’s racism, homophobia or misogyny. They’re all unacceptable within Blackpool Football Club and we will do whatever we can to stamp it out. A lot of us go to games with our wives, Simon comes to games with his wife and his children and we despise a certain chant that I won’t make reference to. It’s outdated, it’s uncalled for and it’s unacceptable within the modern game. What I would say, we now have a female ground safety officer who is new in post and we’re delighted to have her. If you hear any misogynistic comments, I would invite you to tell us who that is and we will take action upon it. We’ve also discussed a female supporters’ group because we are very keen to give women more of a voice. We have a lot of female supporters that attend and potentially female supporters that don’t attend for reasons you’ve just outlined. Perhaps they don’t feel comfortable, perhaps they feel it’s an environment they don’t feel welcome in, so we have to make sure the matchday experience is enhanced home and away. There’s more to do around female involvement in the football club, which is what we want. The women’s game is growing and quite rightly, we support that as a club and we now have the Community Trust involvement in that. Let’s give women more of a voice in how things move forward.

How can the club help with keeping people warm this winter?

BM: It’s a really good question and we’re doing some work with Ash (Hackett) from the Community Trust on how we can help people. The EFL has also circulated a letter to that effect as well about what we can do as clubs. We want to try and talk about a lot of positive things about the club today but you’re quite right, there are some challenging times ahead this winter and maybe if things are to be believed, it could be a challenging financial period for some time. What has happened with interest rates, mortgages, credit cards, car loans and the likes will put people under pressure. There were food banks that operated through the Community Trust and Utilita have come in as our shirt sponsor and they want to carry that on. We have discussed with Ash about potentially opening up the stadium on so many days, so many hours a week where people can come and interact with each other, share stories and be provided with guidance. I’m hopeful during the World Cup break we can start to put some things in place to build upon the brilliant work the Community Trust does. It is something we’re going to try and find ways to open the stadium up and provide warm spaces.

BG: We were asked about what help BST can give to the football club, which was a very generous offer. We did say maybe volunteers could help with that warm space to engage with people and just to chat and be there as a helping hand. So that’s one example of the Trust and the club working close together.

Can the club and the Trust do more to engage more with supporters who live outside Blackpool?

BM: I would hope with what we’ve done since Simon has come in, in terms of the single sign-on, Tangerine TV and a new website, that people can see we have an improved infrastructure. We’re now able to talk to a supporter in a way we couldn’t when we first joined the football club. You all know we had no online store, we had no accurate data, lots of things were dealt with in cash, that’s just a fact. Now we are much more advanced with that. We’re open to suggestions though. For example, if we travel down to an away game on a Friday night do I hold a Q&A with fans in a pub? I’ve mentioned that before. Anything for a night away! But we can do things like that, to become a person and a face. A lot of the best ideas will come from meetings like this.

BG: All I would say is talk to us. We’re always open. I speak to a lot of fans about various ideas, so if the idea is valid and we can take it forward, we will do. I’d recommend you speak to Steve Rowland (the club’s supporter liaison officer). But it’s certainly a valid point, because we see a lot of our kids leave the town to get degrees and never come back. But they remain Blackpool fans like my own son. He will always remain a Blackpool fan but it’s very unlikely he will come back to live here.

I know referees get a hard time, but it really has reached new lows. What can be done?

BM: This season I think we’ve seen a drop in the quality of Championship referees. You can’t speak to the referee until 30 minutes after the game. On 26 minutes after the Sheffield United game, the referee was trying to get down the tunnel when I was waiting another four minutes to speak to him because I daren’t let any other staff speak. I suggested he got bullied in the tunnel at half-time because he refereed the game very differently in the second-half. There’s an element of ‘there’s some give and take, these things will level themselves out’. But last year when we did the maths, we worked out we were 10 points down when we worked out the glaring, obvious refereeing mistakes. You can do the maths on where that would have put us (level with 7th). This season it’s a tougher league, a lot of teams have spent a lot of money after Covid, financial fair play and wages-to-turnover ratio seems to be a thing of the past for Championship clubs, so we might not have the luxury of losing 10 points. I have regular conversations with Kevin Friend, the ex-Premier League referee, who has now taken over the management of the Select Group 2 referees, who I call the Championship referees. He’s taken over from Alan Wiley. I liked him, he would talk to you. As for Kevin, he listens because he thinks he needs to, but actually he just looks for an excuse to tell you you’re wrong. I’ve had many calls and Nick Horne, our secretary, fills out those 30-page reports on a regular basis. The only saving grace I believe we have for the quality of refereeing improving is the arrival of Howard Webb to oversee refereeing in this country. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Howard and he is best in class. He’s a South Yorkshire lad who refereed the biggest game in the world and a number of other big games around the world. He’s our last hope in my opinion, because he will not suffer fools. We appealed Shayne Lavery’s red card (against Sheffield United), we appealed our mass confrontation charge, and how Wes Foderingham can throw his towel down, throw his gloves down, pick Lavery up, dump him to the ground and yet he gets a three-match ban and we get a £25,000 fine, I don’t know. The great thing is, Sheffield United have got done three times for confrontations this season, so if their fine isn’t £25,000 next week I will be writing even more letters! The problem is the FA, you can’t get hold of them. You get a voicemail, no-one wants to pick up the phone. No-one wants to explain, so it’s difficult. I am falling out with referees though, we are appealing when we feel there’s been a sense of injustice. Simon is potentially being offered the opportunity to speak to the head of refereeing in this country because he’s as incensed as you guys.

Do you support VAR?

BM: I was in Israel for a period where they brought it in. If you think the quality of refereeing in the UK is bad, then it can be a bit lively in Tel-Aviv. You could have VAR-lite, which would be four, eight or 12 cameras, but in the World Cup where they’ve got 30 cameras and referees sat in an office in front of screens, they shouldn’t really be messing it up. If the referees that can’t clearly notice Oli McBurnie’s forearm smashed our goalkeeper, if those individuals are still going to be looking at four views or eight views, I’m not so sure it’s worth the money. I would rather say to Howard Webb, can we get more coaches? Can they spend more time at St George’s Park during the week? But you can be assured every time we’re wronged we’re at them. We’re writing reports, we’re on the phone. I hope Howard is the difference and I don’t think VAR is the answer. Will VAR come in the Championship? Potentially. But a lot will depend on what happens with the broadcasting deal when Sky’s deal is up, because if we go more to the iFollow model or streaming, chances are there will be a lot more cameras in the stadium. Hopefully the more cameras they have, the more ability they will have for VAR.

At the meeting, BST also revealed details about their new ‘1953 sweepstake’, an initiative that aims to grow the club’s fanbase, promote youth football and support community causes. For more information, click here.