MP says she hopes fan-led football review will pave the way for other sports

A Conservative MP who has been made a CBE following her fan-led review into football said she hopes the recommendations will help “set a template” for other sports.

Tracey Crouch chaired the review and published her findings last November, with a new regulator at the centre of the proposals and 47 recommendations aimed at making English football more financially sustainable.

The Chatham and Aylesford MP has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, which have been announced ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Tracey Crouch speaks about review
Ms Crouch said she hopes her recommendations will be “implemented swiftly” (Matt Crossick/PA)

Outlining her thoughts on the future of other sports, she told the PA news agency: “I think that Governance in sport is always a really important issue and it’s constantly needing to evolve and to update.

“Hopefully the principles of the recommendations in the football review will help set a template for best practice in sport going forward.”

Ms Crouch said she wanted to get involved in the review following a turbulent few years the game has faced.

“I think there have just been too many crises in football, which have led to some football clubs not able to continue in their existing form,” she said.

“That’s why I was asked to chair the review and we took lots of evidence and came up with the recommendations that we did.”

Last March, she returned to the House of Commons following a course of radiotherapy treatment she had for breast cancer.

She was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and worked remotely during the pandemic while undergoing treatment.

Ms Crouch said she felt “quite humbled” to be made a CBE for parliamentary and public service, and said it was a “nice surprise.”

Platinum Jubilee
She has been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, which have been announced ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (Matt Alexander/PA)

“It’s just really nice to be recognised for the work that I’ve done.”

Other political figures to have been recognised include Conservative MP for Kingswood Chris Skidmore and former Conservative MP for St Ives David Harris, who both have been made Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) following their work in politics.

Meanwhile Euan Blair, founder and chief executive of the apprenticeship company Multiverse and son of former prime minister Tony Blair, has been made an MBE for services to education.

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