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Baseball Players Union

At the Imperial Hotel in Manchester on 2nd December, Bradley Betts, the splendid centre fielder of the Sunderland club, convened the first meeting of the new players collective, named the British Baseball Players Union, the goal of whom will be to organise all professional British baseballers to plead their case to the various leagues, the Baseball Association, and their clubs, for contractual parity. Among those present were seven Manchester United players, two Manchester City players, plus representatives from Newcastle United, Bradford City, West Bromwich Albion, Notts County, Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The new union sees as its aim not just what they term to be financial and contractual freedom, but also the creation of a body that would help all professional footballers, no matter their station, to obtain a fair hearing in disputes with their league and its clubs, and restitution in the case of injury and punishment.