Tracey Crouch, the Conservative MP who is also a qualified football coach, has been named the new minister for sport and will immediately face a bulging intray.
The MP for Chatham and Aylesford in Kent, who replaces Helen Grant as minister, coaches a women’s football team and also plays herself. She hit the headlines in 2011 when she attacked the Football Association for refusing to let her play for the Parliamentary team under its rules.
“I have played for and against many of the members of the parliamentary team, and they know I am perfectly capable of looking after myself,” she said at the time.
Crouch also sat on the culture, media and sport select committee that delivered a wide-ranging report on the future of football governance during the last Parliament.
It made various recommendations regarding reform of the FA and increased influence for fans that she may now be in a position to enact. The CMS select committee was chaired by John Whittingdale, who is the new secretary of state for culture, media and sport.
Crouch also sat on the women and sport advisory board set up by Grant to boost the profile and number of participants in women’s sport.
She takes on the role at a time when pressure is growing on the Premier League to share more of its expected £8bn-plus television deal with the grassroots and government funding for sport is expected to come under pressure given promised cuts to departmental budgets.
Those who claim the government has failed to deliver on the promises of a lasting sports participation legacy from the London 2012 Olympics will also be watching closely for the effects of any further cuts to local authority budgets on facilities and sport provision.
