Fair Game’s vision is out there – now it’s time to deliver
Fair Game’s vision is out there – now it’s time to deliver
Fair Game’s vision is out there – now it’s time to deliver
One thing that was quite clear among the 40 or so football fans gathered in AFC Wimbledon’s Platinum Suite on Thursday (9 September), and others listening in via YouTube or Zoom – Fair Game’s solutions make universal sense.
Whether you’re used to watching football matches of the highest quality, following teams on European adventures season in, season out; or sitting on hay bales in the English countryside surrounded by a handful of diehards – everyone agrees that the Beautiful Game is broken, and has been broken for too long.
That is why Fair Game’s launch event, in particular the 48 page manifesto presented for the first time, is so important. Football’s had ample opportunities to progress, to reinvent itself, to work out how to create a fitter future for itself, but never seized the moment.
With Tracey Crouch’s review imminent, that moment might just be around the corner.
And here’s another truism – little of what is included in Fair Game’s manifesto is ground-breaking. Nor does Fair Game suggest it to be.
This isn’t about seeking radical alternatives and turning the game upside down. It’s about challenging the status quo, which is clearly unfit for purpose, and making for a brighter future.
These views were shared passionately by an excellent panel who so eloquently defined Fair Game’s values and solutions in the one-hour launch event.
Journalist Adrian Goldberg, who chaired the event, has campaigned for fans since the mid-80s – calling his experience a “never ending campaign against the ‘hooligans’ in the board room.
Ex-England international John Scales, now a Fair Game ambassador, praised how, in a short space of time, Fair Game has “established detailed solutions to problems well acknowledged by fans and others throughout the game.”
It was left to Fair Game CEO Niall Couper along with Christina Phillippou, Principle Lecturer in Accounting at the University of Portsmouth, to update the assorted fans, chairmen, politicians and other interested parties as to the detail of what Fair Game is setting out to achieve. The Sustainability Index initiative was particularly well applauded.
While audio issues affected those present from being able to fully hear Andy Burnham, who dialled into the event from his Greater Manchester Mayoral office, the wonders of YouTube mean that his words will not have gone unheard for long.
As Niall intimated, above all, Fair Game’s dream is for “every fan to be able to put on their shirt proud of everything their club stands for.”
With Fair Game due to speak to Tracey Crouch and her advisers over the coming month or so, all eyes will now be on how these solutions will become reality.
Over to you, Tracey….