The Lib Dems became the second major political party to address concerns of football fans as they proposed the introduction of Safe Standing this week

The junior coalition partner have gone for the potentially popular policy which would involve clubs being allowed to install rail seating, although given how much of their Manifesto was sacrificed to the compromise of a Coalition government how likely this would be to make policy; and many fans will be wary given the number of other times football proposals have been rolled out around election time and very little has changed - but you never know. The campaign in this and area of football governance seems to be gaining momentum. The Premier League however remain in favour of all-seater stadia, and are not seeking to influence government to change this. The Football league are in favour, despite the topic being sensitive in the post Hillsborough era. Labour have already started in earnest attempting to address Football Governance with Eltham MP Clive Efford's recent initiative. This leaves the Conservatives in an apparent poor third in terms of appealing for fans votes for the May 2015 General Election, appearing out of touch with the football supporting public - the MP for Maidstone and the Weald Helen Grant* who holds a junior ministerial rank cited recently that any changes to the game which meant the Premier League honouring their commitments to grass roots football could result in higher ticket prices despite the enormous amount of money swilling around at the top level of our game. A recent poll by national organisation ICM, showed Fans strongly support reform in the game.

• Only 18% of fans felt clubs were well run
• And around half (44%) agree that football is 'broken' and needs intervention from the FA to fix it.
• 54% believed clubs should be run in combination with their local community
• While an overwhelming 77% of fans agree that they should be formally consulted on any changes relating to their football club.
• 40% agreed rule changes were needed to allow more fan ownership

We suggest any Charlton fans concerned about Football reform contact the current Sports Minister*, Shadow Minister, and or their local MP, and let us know how you get on. TN