Twelve months ago, the former sports minister, Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, published the long-awaited Fan-Led Review. The result of months of hard-work and conversations with hundreds of different stakeholders, the final document mapped out a new future for the game.
It addressed issues of financial sustainability, governance, equality standards, community engagement and fan engagement, and was widely welcomed.
Since then a series of delays has hamstrung its implementation and today she revealed her own new report: The Fan Led Review: One Year On. In it she concludes: "The time for reform is now."
However, she added: “Yet a minority of loud, self-interested voices continue to block meaningful reform, to the detriment of the game."
Niall Couper, the chief executive of Fair Game, said: “Tracey’s report was a real milestone for football. It spelt out a new future.
*There is no doubt that football needs reform. Fans know it. The clubs know it. And politicians know it.
“Yet, the Government has been ignoring them all. What is needed now is action. The solution is simple: Publish the White Paper and lay the final path to legislation.”