THE instinctive reaction of soccer clubs will, no doubt, be to give a deaf ear to the call today by the government's Football Task Force for them, in effect, to be less greedy by giving the less well-off cut-price tickets, ending their quick-change act on replica kit and seeking the fans' consent for share sell-offs.

Indeed, even as these radical recommendations for a fan-friendly sport are published today, we see such a response already predicted by the representatives of soccer's bosses and supporters on the Task Force being unable to agree on them.

But if it seems wishful thinking to expect big business - which football has increasingly become - to make less money, the clubs should not dismiss these proposals out of hand.

For although they are essentially about making supporters feel less exploited, they are also about encouraging them to stay with the sport, enabling more of them to go to more games and attracting youngsters to the fan-base.

And what business can afford to reject ideas for strengthening the loyalty of their existing customers and encouraging new ones to join their ranks? It may be that modern football - particularly at its upper reaches - can, via the multi-million pound sales of TV rights and even direct media investment in clubs, look to large and ready revenues from the people who follow soccer at home in their armchairs.

But, ultimately, it is on their armies of regular fans, not on TV viewers or corporate customers, that clubs depend.

Clubs cannot automatically expect their loyalty or their money, particularly if they feel they are taken advantage of or ignored.

In the short term these Task Force proposals may not charm the clubs, but, for their long-term success, they would do well to at least consider compromising with them.

And if they do not like what the Task Force is saying today, they need only ask the average family of four whether nowadays they can afford to go to every home game or buy new shirts every few months.

Are they not the kind of fans who matter?

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.