The inside story of how Paul Barber averted an England player strike after Rio Ferdinand's missed drug test

Brighton and Hove Albion chief executive and deputy chairman Paul Barber has tackled many challenges throughout his career in football administration.

As commercial director and then director of marketing and communications for the Football Association between 2002 and 2006, Barber often acted as The FA's public face in times of trouble.

It was a challenging period for Barber which included the last match at the old Wembley, the appointment of Sven-Göran Eriksson as England coach and Rio Ferdinand - who was Manchester United's and England's best defender at the time - missing a drugs test.

England players then threatened strike action ahead of the crucial European Championship 2004 qualifier in Turkey.

Barber, the FA and England's footballers were locked in a remarkable battle of wills after the exclusion of Ferdinand from the squad to face Turkey.

England players - including the likes of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard - were adamant Ferdinand should have been reinstated and were prepared to strike.

The FA were equally clear in their stance that the Manchester United defender, who missed a drugs test two weeks prior, was not to travel.

Talks between the two parties were fraught and at one stage Barber admitted "one of the options being talked about is not travelling to Turkey." England would have be thrown out of the Euro 2004 tournament.

The entire England squad received ballot papers and were asked whether they were willing to strike if Ferdinand wasn't reinstated. The response was a unanimous 'yes'.

Speaking on video conference last week Barber said it was a huge deal at the time and was possibly his toughest test in football.

But that now pales into insignificance compared to the crisis facing football today due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We had the issue where England players were protesting about the way the FA had treated Rio Ferdinand following a missed drugs test and didn’t want to go ahead and play that game," said Barber, who has spent 25 years in football administration at all levels of the game.

“That was a very difficult period in which, on behalf of the FA, I negotiated with the players to get them on that plane, to get them off to the European Championship qualifier.

“That was a very difficult week. But this (coronvirus) is weeks and weeks and weeks. The two just don’t compare.

“That was about a very difficult, sensitive situation involving a player and a group of players supporting him.

“This is about people losing their lives, losing their jobs, losing their livelihoods, struggling to make ends meet. It’s a very different situation.

“The consequences of that for our industry and the people that work in it are very serious indeed.

“That particular issue back then 17 years ago for me now pales into insignificance relative to what we are facing now.”

The England players did eventually board the plane to Turkey that week and despite a missed penalty from Beckham, Sven-Goran Eriksson's team got the 0-0 they needed to reach Euro 2004.

Ferdinand didn't play but the defensive line of Neville, John Terry, Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole held firm.

Barber said he learned from that testing time and the experience is helping to conduct rather tricky and sensitive talks with Brighton players on wage reductions or deferrals during the suspension of the Premier League.

So just what did he say to get the England squad on the plane to Istanbul back in 2003 and how has it helped him to communicate with the Brighton players during this crisis?

“It was a long time ago but one thing you can take from the experience is that transparency and honesty is always the best way to go," added Barber.

“Explain what your position is, explain what the challenges are and then hopefully try to find some common ground where everyone comes out of it a winner.

“Back in 2003, it was about trying to get everyone on the plane to play a really important game.

“And they did get on board the plane and we got the draw we needed over there."

Barber now needs to get the Brighton players on board.

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