SHE THINKS IT’S ALL R-OVER

12:51pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

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TRANMERE Rovers’ Chairman Lorraine Rogers has announced she is stepping down from the role at the end of the current season.

In the programme for Tranmere’s game against Hartlepool United at Prenton Park on Saturday - which ended 1-0 for Ronnie Moore’s squad and secured their first win in the new Coca Cola League One campaign - Ms Rogers explained why this is her last season.

She said: “I still feel very positive about Tranmere Rovers and also about our prospects this season. Confidence can move mountains and I hope we’ll all remain confident and support Ronnie and the players to get it right.

“But for some time now I’ve felt disillusioned with the game and the growing gap between the big clubs and the smaller clubs.

“The inequalities seem to be more pronounced. It gets worse every season. Sadly it seems as if the sport is more about money than about football.

“Over the 10 years I’ve been involved, 30 Football League clubs have been in administration – 36 administrations in total because some have been in administration two or three times.

“Millions of pounds have gone out of the game to administrators. Fans, players and staff have faced the uncertainty of knowing whether their clubs will survive. Creditors haven’t been paid in full and people have lost their jobs. But what has the game done to help smaller clubs?

“Points deductions have been used to encourage more responsible financial management but are they working and do they address the cause of the problems? I don’t think they do.

“In the last few years a total of 129 points have been deducted from Football League clubs for financial reasons. Point deductions distort competition and alienate fans from the game. They don’t address the root of the problem – which is the fact that although English football is very wealthy, too little is being channelled to the smaller clubs.

“I hate what is happening to our national game. Many of the people who take the decisions in our governing bodies have never worked at a club and don’t know how difficult it is just to survive.

“A fundamental question for the governing bodies is whether the priority is to maximise the support it gives to Championship clubs and close the gap with the Premier League, even if that’s at the expense of the smaller clubs – or a more even distribution of wealth to help ensure that the 72 clubs survive.”

“So I’ve decided this will be my last season.

“I’m in discussions with Peter Johnson about my 30 per cent shareholding. I’d like to find a responsible buyer – someone who’ll have the interests of the club at heart.”

A Craig Curran cracker on 23 minutes earned Tranmere their first victory of the new campaign. With the exception of a 20-minute spell at the end of the first period and a late rally, Hartlepool were second-best throughout the contest and could have no complaints about suffering their first defeat of the season.

This Saturday, Rovers are away to Leicester City.