Tracey Crouch fears delays to football reform could be ‘catastrophic’ for game

Tracey Crouch says the Government’s endorsement of the fan-led review she chaired is “an enormous step forward” for major reform in football but says the unspecified timeframe for implementing change is “worrying” for clubs and fans alike.

The Government has today given its formal support to the 10 key strategic recommendations set out in the review, published last November.

These include the creation of an independent regulator to ensure the financial sustainability of the game, greater consultation with fans via shadow boards, additional protections for key items of club heritage and fairer distribution of money from the top of the game down the football pyramid.

It also includes a commitment to work with relevant football bodies and the police to consider the safety and economic case for piloting the sale and consumption of alcohol in sight of the pitch at matches in the men’s lower leagues.

The Government will set out its full response on Monday afternoon following a statement to the House of Commons by Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston, with further detail to be published in a white paper this summer.

Crouch gave the Government’s initial response a cautious welcome and said in a statement issued to the PA news agency: “I am grateful to the Government for publishing its response to the fan-led review of football governance.

“I am exceptionally pleased it has accepted or supported all the strategic recommendations of the review, including committing to legislation for a statutory independent regulator which will regulate financial resilience as well as ownership of clubs.

Fans fully recognise the complexities of the recommended reforms, but the unspecified time frame for implementation due to a white paper at some