Crouch review a genuine landmark for football with possibility of real change | David Conn

The contents mull over the same glaring issues and structural dysfunctions as previous reports with one huge difference

For the many lovers of football who have long campaigned for reforms to the game’s modern mega-commercialisation, the contents of Tracey Crouch’s “fan-led review” are so familiar it manages to be simultaneously agonising and strangely reassuring. It mulls over the same glaring issues and structural dysfunctions as all the previous earnest reports that have piled up since the Football League’s First Division clubs broke away to form the Premier League 29 years ago, and reaches essentially the same conclusions.

But there is a huge difference this time, making it a genuine landmark. The review shows politicians have had enough of being fobbed off, and veteran campaigners in the Football Supporters’ Association, who worked extensively on the details, have learned from previous reports producing too little change. So however unlikely it appears that a Conservative government headed by a character such as Boris Johnson could seriously consider bringing in an independent regulator for the people’s game, that has now become a real possibility, after Crouch grasped her opportunity and recommended it.