Crouch, hold and engage
With just a few hours to go before the much-heralded Crouch Review lands, Fair Game’s Matthew Riley, evaluates the next steps
WITH only hours before Tracey Crouch heralds a new era for football, every fan across the land is enfranchised by the power of passion, history and purpose. Energised with the power of partnership, each of us can create positive traction for the report written by a widely respected and, an even rarer earth in Westminster at the moment: trusted.
Crouch
In the continuing largely male, pale and stale world of football governance, it is refreshing that a woman’s perspective lights the way out of football’s financial insanity and shady unfit, improper tests that often drive a cart and horse through any semblance of Environmental and Social Governance. Tracey has actively listened to the widest spectrum of the beautiful game’s stakeholders and approached the process as a catalyst rather than a grandstanding mouthpiece. In a world of hectoring divisiveness, this is what gives us reason to hope hard.
Hold
At Fair Game, we are confident the report will herald a return to financial and community-focussed sanity. Only this morning one of our advisors Kieran Maguire highlighted the madness that Manchester United’s wage bill has increased by 100,000% since 1974/5 whilst inflation has risen by 821%. Ole may no longer be at the wheel, but the financial vehicle he drove was more clown car than Rolls Royce.
In Sunday’s Observer, one of our political partners Alison McGovern wrote a passionate call to arms for all fans .Before we move forward, we need to recognise what we hold and how we are custodians as fans just as much as any owner or nation state. Alison described it perfectly: “Here’s a common story. Some people inherit houses, some even still inherit titles. I inherited football.”
The heart of her argument is found in this energising but chilling review of this journey to the brink. “But for all the debate, all the column inches, we have failed to protect our sport from itself,” she added.
The fatuous ‘please gamble responsibly’ seems to have been football’s mission statement. Give clubs access to consequence-free financial recklessness but ask them to commit economic suicide responsibly.
Engage
What makes Fair Game different from other organisations demanding a return to some sort of parity and sanity is that we bring together clubs, politicians, councils and academics to drive a meaningful manifesto for change that has been proved and probed, evaluated and analysed before being released. With supporters like Alison, the feeling is that the debate is moving to us rather than vice versa. We have put in the hard yards behind the scenes before we engaged with our supporters. Now we are primed, ready and determined to lead the conversation driven by fans. Join us on the journey. A life without football is one diminished and dull. And this is from a man who watched Carlisle against Exeter on Saturday...