The Crouch Report: The End of the Beginning

Fair Game’s Matt Riley asks everyone to take action and remember to always look on the bright side of life

TRACEY Crouch’s forty seven recommendations across 162 pages were thorough, realistic and predicated on a determination to sober football up after its three decade spending binge. But Tracey needs the help of everyone if this report is to have the bite and traction it needs to be a clarion call, not a long speech in a half empty hall.

To avoid the game’s gatekeepers making a Peppa Pig’s ear of Tracey’s diligence and active listening to the game’s genuine stakeholders, we all have a duty of care to the game we love.  

Responses have been universally supportive. CEO of the Football Supporters’ Association Kevin Miles welcomed it as, “…potentially a huge step forward for football governance.” Rick Parry was generally positive, despite damning with faint praise when describing the report as a “really thorough piece of work”. The Premier League gave Tracey two cheers, highlighting concern that “any reforms do not damage our game”. 

Together we can save the report from being killed with kindness. Hard truths need to be confronted. Like addressing any entrenched behaviour it is fraught with dangerous pushback and is vulnerable to being undermined by hollow soundbites. Do gambling companies really want us to ”stop when the fun stops”? Will drinking responsibly help alcohol businesses protect their bottom line? But, rather than that worrying us, it should make us doubly determined to steer Tracey’s ship away from the rocks of empty rhetoric and towards the open water of progress, collaboration and engagement.  

So what can we do? Adopt the nudge theory that uses positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions to influence the behaviour of those who structure football’s decisions. We can all make action the default option by keeping the report in the public consciousness through podcasts, interviews, media and debate.  When we do that, we can social proof its progress. When others see our behaviour, they are more likely to join in the movement to drive meaningful action.  

In our world of contrived social media outrage and clickbait, being genuinely positive is revolutionary. Let’s drive the report home through a million little pieces of support. Talk to your friends, your local MP, the bloke in the pub complaining about football’s detachment from financial reality. Unless we act, we are no better than The Life of Bryan’s committee: 

Reg: Right. Now, item four: attainment of world supremacy within the next five years. Francis, you've been doing some work on this. 

Francis: Yeah. Thank you, Reg. Well, quite frankly, siblings, I think five years is optimistic unless we can smash the Roman empire within the next twelve months. 

Reg: Twelve months? 

Francis: Yeah, twelve months. And, let's face it. As empires go, this is the big one, so we've got to get up off our arses and stop just talking about it! 

...I agree. This is a complete waste of time.  Right this calls for immediate discussion and a new motion completely.’ 

Let’s all look on the bright side of life...