Sporting life: the FA's troubles

The government has promised to clean up British politics. They should do the same with the FA, football’s hopeless governing body
June 21, 2010

Injuries aside, English football did not depart for the World Cup in robust health. The long, drawn-out administration of Portsmouth had already cast a shadow over the balance sheets of most Premiership clubs. England coach Fabio Capello, unusually, made the headlines for the wrong reasons when he put his name to the Capello Index, a player performance rating on a gaming website. And David Triesman, chair of the Football Association, was secretly recorded suggesting that the Russians and Spanish planned to influence referees at the World Cup. When the Mail on Sunday did its patriotic duty and published the story, he resigned both from the FA and as head of the England 2018 World Cup bid (which one suspects is now over). While these events illuminate some of the problems in English football—such as an economic model that requires clubs to overspend and a rapacious media—the most telling incident attracted the least attention: the resignation of Ian Watmore. He was chief executive of the FA and the fifth incumbent since 1998. As Oscar Wilde might have said, to lose one chief executive may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose five smacks of carelessness. The hapless Graham Kelly departed in 1998 after allegations that he and FA chairman Keith Wiseman loaned money to the Welsh FA in return for their support on England’s 2006 World Cup bid. Kelly was replaced by Adam Crozier, previously head of Saatchi and Saatchi. In four years, Crozier modernised the FA’s operations, revolutionised its decision-making procedures and appointed the first foreign manager of the national team. He also advocated addressing the huge economic inequalities in English football. For his trouble he was hustled out in 2002 by manoeuvres orchestrated by the Premiership’s representatives in the FA. Crozier’s successor Mark Palios, an ex-professional footballer turned accountant, was swiftly culled by the tabloids after an affair with an FA secretary who was also involved with then England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. Brian Barwick, previously head of ITV sport, took over and steadied the ship. But he left in 2008 after Triesman’s appointment as the first independent chairman made it clear that Barwick was going to be number two in the organisation. Watmore, another accountant by training, lasted two years until his proposed financial reforms were met by fearsome opposition from the Premiership representatives and the leading clubs. One wonders whether Vince Cable will undergo a similar fate as he attempts to reform the banks, possibly the only other sector of the economy as intransigent and self-regarding as the Premiership. One wonders too what measures the incoming Conservative ministers will take—namely sports minister Hugh Robertson and Jeremy Hunt, secretary of state for culture, Olympics media and sport. Hunt has said that football may need an independent regulator. But something firmer than this could be required—as is clear from the efforts of the last government. Unprepared to confront private capital, but appalled by the inequalities of the new football, Labour settled for welcome but minor reforms. The Football Task Force squeezed 5 per cent of revenues from the Premiership and routed it to grassroots projects. It also established Supporters Direct, which encouraged fans to form trusts and become involved in the running of their clubs, particularly at troubled lower league sides. In 2005, the government commissioned the Burns Review, which laid out a number of reforms to the FA which would diminish the power of the Premiership within the organisation, deal with the conflicts of interest in decision-making, and increase the power and profile of supporters and the grassroots game. However, the only proposals enacted so far are the appointment of the independent chair (someone who has not worked for a club or league within the last three years) and micro-improvements in the “fit and proper persons test” for club directors and large shareholders. Voices from inside the FA have let it be known that the departure of Watmore and Triesman has “significantly improved relations with the professional game”; a cryptic way of saying how happy the Premiership is that the reformers have been seen off the premises. These voices are also pressing for Triesman to be the last independent chair of the FA and for his replacement to be a pliable insider, and for what remains of the Burns reforms to be shelved. In turn, club owners hope that people will stop prying into the professional game’s mountain of debt and its unsustainable business model. I gather the new government is promising the biggest reform of our democracy since the great reform acts of the 19th century. The Football Association, founded in 1863, is of a similar vintage. Perhaps they could start the great experiment here?