The Morris Dance: Better never than late

Fair Game’s Matt Riley takes a closer look at the case of Derby County and the tears of Mel Morris

SO MEL Morris, the man who has driven Derby County to the edge of financial oblivion, now backs the Crouch report findings. Tracey described the ‘heartbreaking’ testimony he offered her as he shared how his club would not be in its existential situation if there had been an independent financial regulator.

Whilst it is generous of Tracey to be so moved by his testimony, when Jeff Bezos is sending me Christmas cards because I have financed his next visit to space through my ruinously expensive Amazon addiction, there is only one person to blame. And it isn’t (unfortunately) him.  

Let’s not forget that Morris guided Derby to administration in September after a headline loss of £50 million but with untold further losses being chased by creditors (many of them small local businesses) and HMRC. Talking to the Not The Top 20 podcast earlier this week, Crouch was very generous (and divisive) about the owner of the embattled Rams:

“We actually took some evidence from Mel Morris. It was quite heartbreaking and I know Derby fans are going to be furious with me for saying that. But actually in a way, in the romantic aspect of football, you want the Mel Morrises to be, you know, people who grew up in the town, supported the club, came into fortune and then wanted to take over the club and be successful with it.”

I see Crouch’s point. There is a romance, Jack Walker style, of a local business owner made good taking over a club and trying to guide them to glory, but why do they always seem to leave their business brains in the car park when they arrive at the stadium? Walker brought Blackburn into a brief moment in the sun before their relegation four seasons after winning the Premier League. There is also something more sinister at play at Derby. It wasn’t just a wide-eyed fan overspending to bring glory back to the club. Morris was happy to navigate the murky outreaches of light-touch regulation to ensure he complied with FFP. Surely he must have known that you don’t look to bend the financial rules when you are solvent and sustainable. 

So now he can throw up his hands and walk away. Not so for the lifelong fans, workers, local suppliers and players looking over their shoulders as their already short careers have been further diminished by the insanely high wages they were offered and other clubs will be loathe to finance. If someone picks up the tab for the financial madness Morris was happy to wallow in it will only encourage more people to dive headlong into a kingdom of madness that makes an enemy of their future. Morris’s mia culpa was late in coming. Better that it never had to come at all.