Outline of the Report and List of Recommendations

The Team has prepared this summary document for the convenience of readers of the report.  It is not intended to be a substitute for the report itself which contains the essential background to our recommendations as well as the evidence and argument.  It is hoped that it will nevertheless be helpful, both as an introduction to the report and as an aide-memoire during subsequent discussion.

Section 1 is introductory - about Procedure and Process.  We describe some of the history leading up to the Erewash Valley Notice of Motion at Conference 1999 which in turn led to the setting up of the Consultancy Team.  This section also contains our remit, the reasons for our decision to start by asking what the.  RA is about and for, and our methodology for gathering and analysing the evidence.

Section 11 contains our Findings and Recommendations.  Our first finding is that The Referees' Association is in decline and lacking the qualities needed for a successful future.  'What we need is ... a dynamic, forward-looking Association with public esteem and influence.'

The first recommendations concern the Vision, Mission, Objectives and need for a Strategic Plan - what we are aiming to achieve and how to structure the process.

In considering ways of enhancing the public esteem of the RA, we make recommendations about 'corporate image' - Public Relations, House Style, The Football Referee, the RA website.

Then sub-sections 3 and 4 discuss in detail the present and proposed future organisational structure of the RA.  It was clear from the evidence, especially of the questionnaires, that many members are unclear about the existing structure and the roles of the committees at the various levels.  So we describe and analyse critically the status quo.  We move on to a proposed new structure with the potential to overcome the perceived deficiencies.  Briefly, the aim is to slim down and professionalise the Association.  It is proposed that the President should be replaced by a Chief Executive, the Council by a smaller Board of Management and the four sub-committees by three executive committees.  It is also proposed that the Divisional layer should be abolished, but that of the County RAs developed, with the National RA giving increased direct support to local societies.

The Annual Conference was specifically part of the Team's remit.  A formal AGM is proposed as part of the management restructuring and, consequently, an Annual Members' Weekend to replace the present Conference.

Sub-sections 6 and 7 deal with RA Head Office and financial administration, and a raft of measures are recommended to improve efficiency.

Change will not come free and sub-section 8 contains our best estimates of costs.  Importantly, we stress the need for more vigorous efforts to seek outside funding and make suggestions about possible sources.

A number of other important issues were raised in discussion or came to our attention in some other way.  They are grouped and discussed in sub-section 9. One of the most fundamental, Recommendation 35, suggests a reconsideration of RA Rule 4 in relation to compulsory affiliation of all local society members and compulsory insurance.

Sub-section 10 proposes two models of development ' The first is to implement the forty recommendations we make.  The second is, in addition, to develop our relationship with The Football Association in terms of a formal agreement spelling out our co-operative roles in the betterment of referees and refereeing.

If the Team's proposal for a new form of senior committee is accepted, a mechanism for change will need to be put into place.  We therefore propose an 'Implementation Team' and make other Suggestions for Implementation in subsection 1.1.

Finally, we open our Conclusion by quoting Winston Churchill:
"This is not the end.  It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.'