One Man’s Crusade Part IV: ‘Officials Fees’

The FA And County Football Association Support And Condone My Old Football Clubs Falsified Accounts Including Unsubstantiated And Dubious Referee Fees. 

Football Club Disciplined Or Even Awarded With Only A Minor Formal Warning For Financial Poor Practice?

I have had overwhelming interest and support for my previously published articles, raising the awareness of financial misgivings in grassroots football and associated neglect of appropriate and legitimate investigation from football associations, at both County and National levels. 

ONE MAN’S CRUSADE – My Grassroots Football (wordpress.com)

ONE MAN’S CRUSADE PART II: SAFEGUARDING – My Grassroots Football (wordpress.com)

ONE MAN’S CRUSADE PART III: WHISTLEBLOWING – My Grassroots Football (wordpress.com)

Many people linked nationally with grassroots football have contacted me with similar unfortunate and inexcusable experiences and have asked for more detail in regard to the blatant falsified accounts in relation to the ‘officials fees’ (referee fees).  In this article I will evidence the falsifying of the ‘officials fees’ by my old Football Club (FC) and the lack of investigation or interest by both the County FA (CFA) and The FA following the escalation of my compliant to them.  

I have personally dissected the accounts produced by my old FC relating to all entries regarding ‘officials fees’.  Using HARD FACTS and FIGURES I have calculated and will identify how inexplicably wrong they actually are. 

The FA “suggest” that they have carried out a professional and thorough investigation into my raised and identified financial suspicions using Accountants that are directly linked with the FC (As financial sponsors of the FC).  Another known, ignored and tolerated conflict of interest (COI) by the CFA and The FA.  Resonating in the FC being given only a

FORMAL WARNING FOR POOR FINANCIAL PRACTICE

And the green light to continue ‘bu£ine££’ as usual.

My determined fight for justice clearly ruffled the FC’s feathers.  In my opinion the FC released a Newsletter in November 2020: B******* A****** Times Volume 1 in retaliatory action.  Intending to publicly regain control of the situation and show financial and organisational transparency on social media and to its members and local parishioners. To salvage their diminishing reputation and to dampen long standing and growing gossip.

Although I was not personally named in the newsletter I can only assume that the FC was describing me and my actions.

What the FC failed to highlight and I believe have tried to hide and cover up to its players, parents, supporters, officials and sponsors linked to the FC, the very people the Charter Standard is there to protect is the FACT that they (the CFA’s FC) received a FORMAL WARNING FOR FINANCIAL POOR PRACTICE. Yet the newsletter categorically lies by stating;

As I have previously highlighted the FC and CFA along with all other subsidiaries are all intrinsically and financially interlinked with evident COI’s yet again, almost an admission in itself in the newsletter to the corrupted and murky workings of the FC and the CFA.

The same Newsletter provided interesting information under the title of;

This was kindly put together by the FC’s finance Manager and the accounts have been audited by B********* the FC’s accountants and have also been reviewed by the County FA CEO and Finance Director.  The CFA CEO is quoted as saying;

As I am constantly being urged by the football authorities, to TRUST in the processes therefore I am accepting and taking that these verified accounts for 19/20 are correct, true and the ‘officials fees’ total is £1769.

With the football authorities confirming that this ‘officials fees’ amount to be true and accurate this only highlights further that previous years were falsified, forged and made up.  Which is why I honestly do not understand why my allegations of financial irregularities have not been taken seriously,ignored and have gone unpunished.

The football authorities have strategically verified the FC’s accounts for season 19/20 (I had already left the FC) NOT the years that I raised suspicions and concerns about.  The years I identified as being suspect and incorrect relate to the seasons 14/15, 15/16, 16/17 and 17/18. If you review the table below it is apparent that for 3 consecutive years the FC;s reported ‘officials fees’ are identical and total to a staggeringly high £3,450 each season, despite a different number of teams and football games being played.

I have therefore used as reference The FA’s very own Fulltime system ( FA FTS ) to gain factual data. The FA FTS only shows official league and cup games. I used the FA FTS to look at all recorded games for my old FC for relevant seasons. The table above clearly identifies the number of teams in each age group, the number of HOME games played per age group and a simple calculation to predict what the ‘officials fees’ should be.

Small differences between the FA FTS and the FC final ‘officials fees’ total would be expected due to friendly games prior and during a season.

I have been generous and accounted a fee for every U8, U9 and U10 league and cup game despite the majority of these games being refereed by parents and managers, which in reality would have resulted in minimal or no cost to the FC.

Within our CFA official referees only get appointed at U11’s however sometimes referees aren’t supplied which results in parents or managers officiating. It is the responsibility of the Home team to cover the referee costs for the game.

I have attempted to replicate the FC’s exceptionally high and identical ‘officials fees’ of £3,450 for 3 consecutive years. I simply cannot get anywhere close to this total figure entered onto the FC accounts, despite over estimating and being overly generous with the accounting. These accounts have been shockingly accepted by both the CFA and the FA.

I highlight and ask again the simple question that I have never received clarification of by the CFA and The FA; 

“What are the chances that when you factor in the number of teams, home fixtures and actual official costs per age group the official fees haven’t changed during the 3 year cycle?”

I sincerely doubt that either option A or B is the answer to these excessive ‘officials fees’ figures.

Respecting, knowing and dealing with referees on a weekly basis assigned by my CFA I very much doubt that fees were double during those seasons or the FC was overcharged.  I have been notified that recently the fees have in fact appropriately been increased for referees, which I am fully supportive of.

So with the accepted and verified FC ‘officials fees’ for the season 19/20 being £1,769, this is almost half of that of the questioned seasons.  Clearly referees fees have not been halved because they have in fact been recently increased.  This evidence alone substantiates my claims that the ‘officials fees’ for the seasons 14/15, 15/16, 16/17 & 17/18 were falsified.

The FA FTS does not provide the relevant information for the number of games played in 14/15 when the ‘officials fees’ total was also £3,450, so I cannot confidently challenge this figure however the following years the FA FTS clearly shows that in 15/16 – 90 home games were played and 16/17 – 99 home games were played, which would suggest and I assume that a similar number of games had been played in 14/15.

In fact have the FC shown a serious lack of respect to referees by intimating by their ‘officials fees’ totals, that the referees have been taking £35 per game, an amount greater than the normal and expected referee charge for ALL junior matches? 

If the FC claim to be paying the referees £35 a game and yet a lower amount has actually been paid to them have the FC fraudulently withheld money from these referees?  If so, I would suggest that every referee that officiated a football match for this FC is notified by the CFA and should retrospectively claim the extra money that they have not been paid during the 14/15, 15/16, 16/17 & 17/18 seasons.

In 17/18 according to the FA FTS 115 home games were played by the FC.  The ‘officials fees’ totalled £2,555. This is a sizeable reduction of nearly £1,000 whilst an additional 15 games were played! 

Simple maths of adding and subtracting that even my 8 year old is capable of; these figures clearly do not correlate and are evidently falsified. The 17/18 season was my final season at the FC.  Following my disdain of how the club were falsifying and abusing the accounts, I volunteered to represent the junior section by becoming an Executive Committee member.

The FC treasurer produced Interim accounts at my request. I did not consider the interim ‘officials fees’ total produced for Jan 18 and Mar 18 to be accurate or correct as they were clearly overinflated and hugely exaggerated when compared to the number of games played, evidenced by my personal knowledge of number of games played and the official data from the FA FTS.

The table below shows the interim accounts produced by the FC for 17/18. Actual Expenditure, Predicted Expenditure for remaining season and the subsequent Predicated Total Expenditure for whole season.

I highlighted and discussed my financial concerns with some of the Executive Committee, presenting them with my predicated ‘officials fees’.  In response to this the ‘officials fees’ actual expenditure was reduced by the FC for the subsequent accounts in May 2018 to £2,875 and further reduced to £2,555 in Jun 18. 

An email was sent to me and other FC officials by the CEO of the FC on the 3^rd June 2019, showing how they had botched together numbers to fit the ‘officials fees’ amount, closer to my predicted values. 

When official records and documented recordings are NOT KEPT or WANTED within a FC a botch is the only way that these accounts could be formulated. 

The FC’s solution was to calculate a figure using a blanket £25 charge per home game, irrespective of basic facts such as whether a referee actually officiated the game or the correct age group referee costs were applied.

Despite submitting to the Executive Committee the accurate number of games played by the FC using the official and recognised FA FTS they have still embarrassingly, insultingly and inaccurately fudged some numbers together!

A perfect example of the FC’s dangerous financial incompetence.

This email clearly identifies 2 things, firstly that the initial interim ‘officials fees’ for 17/18 were totally inaccurate and falsified and therefore suggesting previous seasons were also falsified. Secondly that the Executive Committee were fully aware that their published figures were not accidental and had been falsified with intent.

The FA have ignored the evident red flags of falsifying these accounts with intent and condoning this behaviour within the FC as they have been presented with and have had full access to all of this available information and documentation.

Further correspondence from the FC CEO was emailed to the FC officials including the CFA Chairman stating;

“We have reallocated and calculated the referee costs based on criteria passed by the club secretary, excluding friendlies and expenses claimed as these are unknown as there was no audit as to how managers were giving out fees.”

Despite me strongly urging and offering to put a simple and auditable process in place at the beginning of the season which was snubbed and rejected by the FC, the FC CEO is openly admitting in this email that the FC continued to operate with no procedures in place or appropriate records being kept.

In the same email the FC CEO stated:

“The Road forward is to work together, it is easier working from a zero base as opposed to going back in time to try and put things to where we would like them to be – Stable door and horse bolting come to mind……..”

This is a direct admission from the FC CEO to financial malpractice in the previous season’s accounts that he knows have been falsified and unsubstantiated. A clear request to me and other FC officials to forget, ignore and turn a blind eye to these corrupt and unacceptable practices.

I highlighted to the FC, CFA and the FA that the FC never kept any proper and necessary records of ‘officials fees’ and that the ‘officials fees’ cash tin was not controlled or supervised by the FC. The officials cash tin was kept in the Leisure Centre kitchen accessible by numerous people not even directly linked to the FC.  I proposed to improve this totally unacceptable and potentially enticing and opportunistic situation.

This was the WhatsApp conversation between me and the FC secretary in response to my suggestions. The FC Treasurer clearly states that the FC does not want a simple, correct and auditable trail of cash and the FC Treasurer “t*** likes it like that”.

The officials cash tin was sat in the kitchen of the Leisure Centre, unsecured and potentially has had thousands of pounds washed through it. 

Where did this Cash actually come from? How was it replenished?

Was this cash ever withdrawn from the FC’s bank account? The very same bank account that the FC refused to share or provide statements for to me. A simplistic and effective solution for the FC to verify their financial dealings and yet they refused to. What would these statements show? What were they hiding?

Was the cash taken directly from the unaccounted fundraising stash? held solely by the FC Treasurer which was never banked for over 2 years?

Was the cash taken from other cash sources, sources possibly linked to business entities of FC officials?

Answers that remain only the business of the select few associated with the FC.  Answers that no-one has been able to provide evidence for.

I believe FC cash is moving and washing between entities all linked to FC officials, without any accountability or checks, whilst all operating with the support of the local Parish Council in a publicly leased asset.

The FC and now The FA condone and deem it acceptable behaviour of a Community Charter Standard FC to have no documented evidence of running totals, cash holdings and by whom it was replenished or taken by, receipts if any were on scraps of paper, beer mats and cigarette packs.

Why did other Junior FC managers within the FC not challenge the ethics and the behaviour of their Executive Committee and Treasurer? Were they scared to rock the boat, face potential repercussions or do they not value the annual subscriptions that they collect from their players parents?

All of the FC junior managers and officials knew of the financial irregularities and misconduct taking place within their FC and negatively impacting financially on the junior section that they represent.  They chose to tolerate and ignore this known behaviour, they were not willing to challenge and stand up with integrity and morality.

The ‘officials fees’ were begrudgingly reduced from £4230 to £2555 in the 17/18 season, saving the junior section £1,675.  A saving that all junior managers and their associated teams would benefit from, the very people the money is there to be spent on.

Which brings us to the season 19/20 affected by Covid and hence only 78 games were recorded on the FA FTS. The FC ‘officials fees’ accounts of £1,769 as documented by the FC newsletter have been officially confirmed, verified and signed off by the CFA CEO and FD to close out the financial investigation into the FC. 

The ‘officials fees’ figure of £1,769 for the 19/20 season seems a more accurate account when reviewed against FA FTS. This would therefore strongly suggest again that the highlighted and raised ‘officials fees’ for 14/15, 15/16 & 16/17 are totally falsified and inaccurate.

This would mean that an additional 12 games in 15/16 and an additional 21 games in 16/17 cost the FC an eye watering £1,681 extra each season in ‘officials fees’.

The most ironic aspect of this whole situation surrounding the FC ‘officials fees’ is that the CFA, who I raised my concerns of financial irregularities and improprieties with, who are supposed to govern and protect grassroots football within the County, chose to ignore and not investigate my financial complaints properly or professionally. 

The CFA actually appoint referees for fixtures during the season therefore are fully aware of costs involved YET the overinflated costs from the seasons reported have not triggered any red flags and suspicions of corrupt and financial misconduct by the FC linked to the CFA Chairman. They have now signed off ‘officials fees’ for 19/20 season that are considerably lower and more realistic.

The CFA CEO and CFA FD are the same 2 individuals who failed to investigate my initial complaints due to a COI relating directly to the CFA Chairman YET the same COI doesn’t apply when verifying the 19/20 accounts despite the CFA Chairman holding the same positions through out my complaints or subsequent investigations or lack of. COI’s appear to be only applied in favourable and chosen circumstances by the CFA.

The FC CEO admitted by his actions that the ‘officials fees’ for seasons 17/18 were knowingly inaccurate and falsified, overcharging 60% of games played, attempting to persuade the FC officials to ignore, forget and turn a blind eye to these practices. 

The ‘official fees’ for seasons 14/15, 15/16, 16/17 bore no relationship to the FA FTS and the ‘official fees’ in subsequent years.  These ‘officials fees’ have been corruptly and fraudulently overinflated and knowingly falsified by the FC officials.

The FC Secretary and Treasurer knew and encouraged that no auditable financial trail or controls existed within the FC for ‘officials fees’ and intentionally refused to put simple checks and procedures in place to rectify this.

It’s a FACT that the FC received a Formal Warning for Financial Poor Practice from the FA but they choose to omit this important and relevant disciplinary action from their players, parents, supporters and sponsors linked to the FC. Downplaying the financial investigations and suggesting the FC is run professionally and well.

By omitting this important information the FC failed to protect their players, parents, supporters and sponsors linked to the FC, in my opinion in order to protect the FC Vice Chair / CFA Chairman and to improve their social media standing,

The FA and CFA support and condone the FC’s falsified accounts and are ultimately responsible for allowing financial crime to exist within grassroots football. Their actions and lack of disciplinary measures and punishments encourage rather than deter corrupt and fraudulent behaviours within Football.