FA chairman Greg Clarke accused of bringing game into disrepute says PFA boss

Professional Footballers' Association chief executive Gordon Taylor has claimed the union has received messages of support from across the game after it was attacked by Football Association chairman Greg Clarke on Wednesday.

Clarke opened the hostilities when he told a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committee hearing on the FA's handling of Eni Aluko's complaints against Mark Sampson that he would "not take any lectures from the PFA on governance" because it was letting down survivors of abuse while paying its bosses huge salaries.

This did not play well with the MPs on the panel, who rightly wanted Clarke to stick to the matter at hand, and prompted Taylor to describe it as "false and untrue" and "classic diversionary tactics".

But on Thursday, Taylor upped the ante, telling Press Association Sport that instead of getting an apology from the FA today, the union received "messages of support from all members of the football family, including FA councillors and, most importantly, child abuse victims".

Taylor said: "They were fuming with the FA chairman for his untrue comments and grateful for the help they've received from us compared to the FA, which seemed more interested in safeguarding the FA than Eni Aluko.

"Many of them have said he has brought the FA into disrepute with his performance at the House of Commons, describing it as shambolic, very unprofessional and even contemptible."

Clarke's comments came when he was asked by the committee to explain a dismissive email he sent to the PFA last November when the union wrote to him and three other FA executives with details of allegations made by Aluko against Sampson.

The PFA document explained her case, providing what it called "incontrovertible evidence" that an internal FA review into her complaint was a "sham" and accused the governing body of sabotaging Aluko's long England career to protect Sampson.

Clarke replied by asking the sender: "I've no idea why you are sending me this. Perhaps you could enlighten me?"

The former Leicester and Football League chairman admitted he was "abrupt" but said it was because he had already had several conversations with a senior PFA executive about it.

He said the PFA was inadvertently "destroying his ability" to ensure good governance at the FA by "dragging" him into a matter for FA executives.

But he also said he was angered by the suggestion that he was being "oafish" and then made the "no lessons" comment. This was despite him claiming to be an admirer of trade unions.

Ian Ackley, Joey Barton and David White were just three of the former players to post messages of support for the PFA on Twitter, while Clarke backers were short on the ground.

Aluko had already told the panel she was "astonished" by Clarke's 14-word response to such a serious set of allegations and it left her utterly disillusioned about the FA's willingness to take her complaint seriously.

Clarke and his three FA colleagues at the DCMS hearing, including chief executive Martin Glenn, did their best to persuade the MPs otherwise but the chairman did not help himself when he characterised the claim of institutional racism at the FA as "fluff", a comment he had to quickly retract.