Robertson, is also “tinkering” with the sports councils – UK Sport and Sport England to try to bring the two together. Ironically, when I set up UK Sport, as its first CEO, it was under a previous Conservative administration and now sixteen years later, another Conservative led government is trying to reverse those arrangements. Against the backdrop of devolution UK Sport was never needed in the first place, but having made something of it, under Sue Campbell’s leadership, it is equally bonkers to be trying to change the structure following the London Olympics.
The way we run sport in UK to a large extent mirrors what has gone on since the set up of International Sports Federations. The latter in theory at least recognise one controlling body in each country. In UK we have always referred to “governing bodies of sport” rather than “national sports associations” so there has often been a blur in identifying the actual controlling body in some sports. Karate is a particular case in question at the moment.
In football, the trouble started with the setting up of what originally was going to be a “Football Association Premier League” (FAPL). Its original blueprint was crafted by the FA’s Director of Coaching, Charles Hughes, a forward thinker. That blueprint had the new FAPL as a division of the FA, with a Director reporting to the FA’s Chief Executive. Had the intended structure been realised, we would be having a totally different discussion today. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be at the FA in 1991, with Graham Kelly at the helm, capitulated under pressure from six League Clubs’ Chairmen, whom once they had realised, the potential financial opportunities of the FAPL, saw independence as the solution to all their woes.
We would be having totally different debates today had the FA shown true leadership. Additionally, had David Sheepshanks been elected as the FA Chairman in 1998, instead of Geoff Thompson, I have no doubt that he would have appointed Richard Scudamore as his CEO and again the last fourteen years, or so, would have allowed the FA to take on its rightful leadership role. I was present at the meeting of the Premier League Chairmen, when they voted to a man, to support Thompson’s candidacy rather than that of Sheepshanks – a decision which even to this day is inexplicable. It was a retrograde step.
Since then the FA has lurched from one crisis to another, with Thompson being replaced by an independent Chair, Lord Triesman, who in no time at all spectacularly made a fool of himself and brought the credibility of the FA into serious dispute, both nationally and internationally. He in turn had watched as Brian Barwick his CEO and Simon Johnson, his No 2, ha, tripped round the country getting the various constituents to agree to the principle of accepting an independent Chair, and once in post his first act was to remove Barwick!
We are now at that point where the FA is struggling to remain credible in several circles. It has as its intellectual properties, the England team, the FA Cup, a money-losing stadium at Wembley and a coaching scheme which has long since lost its sparkle.
“He who pays the piper.......” and there is no doubt that the combination of the Premier League’s wealth and Scudamore’s astute leadership have made it difficult for the FA to keep pace, or to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. The post of CEO at the FA, was down-graded to that of General Secretary; Sir Dave Richards, the Premier League’s Chair, was brought into something called “Club England” by Triesman, presumably to build bridges, but in reality all it did was create another huge conflict of interests.
The FA would do well in utilising the new project at Burton-on-Trent to re-kindle its coaching schemes. Years ago, when Sir Bobby Robson was with the national team, most of the leading club coaches were also staff coaches of the FA. The two were intrinsically linked. The failings of the England national team and that of Scotland and Wales, are largely the consequence of a decline in the standards of coaching, which is highlighted within the club academy structures. Had those coaches been up-to-the-mark we would be seeing many more British players competing for places at the leading clubs, rather than sitting on benches.
The media and general public are clamouring for Harry Redknapp to take charge of the England team, when as yet, to the best of my knowledge, the FA has yet to go public, on what they perceive the job to be all about. If it is just about talking charge of the national team a few times a year, then it is barely a full-time job, but if it includes taking full responsibility for changing the entire face of our coaching philosophy, as Walter Winterbottom did those many years ago, then it is a whole new ball game. Redknapp would provide “band aid” to the immediate problems of the national team, a short term fix but not the solution to delivering a longer term strategy, to place the national teams, on a continuous upward spiral, where winning becomes inevitable.
The FA is in the process of trying to modernise its corporate governance. It has a new independent Chair and two new independent Directors, which is laudable, but whether that group will have the influence collectively to place the FA where it should be as the lead body in English football remains to be seen. That the Premier League could have let loose its Chair, Sir Dave Richards to speak at a conference in Qatar this week, in an ill-informed manner, then try to pretend that he was speaking in a personal capacity, is indicative of a lack of understanding of corporate responsibility. The Chair of any organisation can never speak in a personal capacity. Equally, the responsibility for International affairs rests with the FA not the Premier League. That Richards fell into the swimming pool after speaking and not before must have been a huge disappointment to those football officials from England who were present.
Getting the right structure in place with “Club England” and the correct national coach will be the immediate challenge. That will require the FA to be brave, ignore the popular cry and show leadership.
