20 May 2010FA chief executive 'driven out over reform'

Football Finance News | Football Leagues/ Association and Governance

Former FA chief executive Ian Watmore was forced to resign after proposals for financial reform met with a strongly negative response, a report has suggested.

An article on the Guardian's website claims Watmore warned fellow board members that "dangerously high" wage bills had left English professional clubs with "financial challenges", with a number believed to be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Executives from English football's governing body and the English Premier League reacted as if Watmore "had left a bucket of sick in the room", according to an insider. He resigned from his post in March after his ideas were not acted upon.

However, the English Premier League has denied the suggestions and insists his proposals were considered in a "collaborative" manner, but Watmore is understood to have grown frustrated at the lack of progress.

Earlier this week, Liverpool supporters' group Spirit of Shankly claimed top flight chief Richard Scudamore admitted in a meeting that the fit and proper owners test is in need of an overhaul.

Written by Paul Roberts

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