Sdeways glances: After Watmore's (right) decision to leave the FA, will ally Fabio Capello remain at the England helm?The impossible job at the FA was supposed to be running the national team, not the organisation itself.
But that is how Ian Watmore regarded the role of chief executive and the principal
reason why he took the shock decision to resign after only nine months in his office beneath the famous Wembley arch.
Watmore had clearly had enough. Enough of the self-interest that undermined
his efforts every step of the way, enough of the politics and enough of what he considered a deeply flawed organisational structure.
Without an independent board, he found it impossible to implement change and to deliver his vision when individuals, driven by what one insider described yesterday as ‘vested interests’, opposed just about everything he tried to do.
Central to the problems was Sir Dave Richards, chairman of the Barclays Premier League as well as executive board member of the FA and someone who only four months ago destabilised England’s pursuit of the 2018 World Cup by walking out on the bid team.
Richards has long been seen as a disruptive influence, the Premier League’s insider at the FA, and his opposition to Watmore from the start proved a permanent obstacle.
Cambridge-educated Watmore, the son of a former Arsenal doctor, appeared exactly the kind of chief executive the organisation was looking for after a long period of instability.
Central to the problems: RichardsHe had a work ethic Fabio Capello would have admired, having set himself a target of ‘100 big meetings’ in his first 100 days in an effort to gain an understanding of his role as rapidly as possible.
And he came with an impressive CV after working both in central government as a high-ranking civil servant and the City.
‘I had 24 years in business before spending five years in the civil service,’ he said in an interview with this newspaper.
‘I have a very strong business background, which is important given the business elements of the FA, but equally I have a public service background and a lot of football is about public service.’
Six months on from that interview, however, Watmore decided the FA would have to go on without him.
‘When he calms down he just wants to do something else with his life,’ said one insider last night. ‘He neither felt like the chief or the executive.’
The events of last week pushed him over the edge, the FA board’s refusal to approve his proposals for streamlining the disciplinary process chief among them. Watmore went to great efforts to improve the system, appointing a team who studied the disciplinary procedures within a variety of different sports.
‘There were some significant changes that made it far more efficient,’ said an insider.
‘But when it was presented to the FA board the professional game were having none of it. They just blocked it and Ian was
On his way: Watmore (centre) with Manchester City's Garry Cook
Among those board members was David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive whose manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, spent part of last week condemning the FA for their ‘dysfunctional’ disciplinary process.‘Ian was about football first,’ said an insider, ‘which was why he was so against the Wembley pitch being used for a rugby match between the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the final. The pitch is an embarrassment and he felt football had to start taking priority. But, again, his proposal for scrapping the rugby game was opposed.
‘He is a great individual. A man with no ego and exactly what the FA needed. He was great with the staff and had a real desire to implement change.’
Pitch battle: Watmore was against using Wembley for rugby matches, as advertised by Saracens fly-half Glen JacksonHe was also rare among FA chief executives in enjoying a good relationship with his opposite number at the Premier League, Richard Scudamore. Sadly, however, it was those who Scudamore represents who created the problems for Watmore.
The timing of his departure could not be worse. The World Cup is only 80 days away and the FA were only recently rocked by the sacking of John Terry as England captain.
Watmore enjoyed a good relationship with Capello and would have been central to ensuring the Italian continues as manager beyond this summer’s World Cup.
Watmore was convinced Capello would stay in that Sportsmail interview in September.
‘His contract is until 2012 and nothing he has done publicly or privately intimates anything other than a desire to honour that contract,’ he said.
Whether that is still the case now one of his most important allies has left remains to be seen.
source: dailymail
