The FA have had a busy couple of weeks with the securing of Fabio Capello as national team manager, the debate over the National Academy at Burton and the presentation of Lord Triesman as the organisation's first independent chairman yesterday. FFC columnist Alex Brodie takes a closer look at who actually runs English football. 

On Thursday the FA appointed Lord David Triesman of Tottenham as their first independent Chairman.  His past Communist Party connections and apparent rebelliousness in the 1960s - he was suspended from university for disrupting a public debate - seem to set him apart from the majority of the ‘Old Farts' (copyright B. Clough) who currently make up the association. In this, the 21st Century, football fans may be surprised at who actually runs the game in England. 

Triesman has been brought in by Brian Barwick, the Chief Executive, in response to the highly critical Burns report released in August 2005, which laid down a restructuring plan including an overhaul of the FA's council which was seen as "unrepresentative", and "out of touch".  Looking at the current 92 members of the council, who meet six times a year, it is easy to see why this criticism was made. 

Prince William is the President, hence his presence at the FA Cup Final and pictures of him doing keepy-ups with kids.  Fair enough, if we must have a monarchy then it seems understandable that a member of it should be a symbolic head of our national game.  But if we look further down the list of Association representatives and Life Vice Presidents we see why the FA is derided as simply an Old Boys Club, with positions passed down through connections and peerage rather than on merit. 

Due to a historical link to the creation of rules for the modern game Cambridge University have both a Life Vice-President and an Association representative whilst Oxford University and the Independent Schools also have representatives on the council and therefore a say in decisions made and proposals put forward for debate.  This seems somewhat archaic as whilst each county has a representative no other educational institutions have representatives.  It all seems a bit House of Lords to me. 

A further look at the council finds places for the Royal Navy, Royal Airforce and the Army in positions of power within the game including a Squadron Leader and Major nonetheless.   

This all starts to seem a little strange really doesn't it?  What can the Army, Navy and RAF have to say about football, that say ex-players, managers, coaches and referees couldn't bring to the table?  They all do have positions, but only one representative each and supporters too have one representative.  But to give the armed forces three separate positions, Oxbridge one each and Independent schools another means they have as much say as the League Managers Association, the Referee's Association and the Supporter's Association which seems a little out of touch, a little too Victorian for my liking.   

Hopefully Triesman, a season-ticket holder at White Hart Lane, will begin to chip away at these pointless positions.  England now have a top class manager in Fabio Capello with top class players at his disposal, and Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are top class players, is it not time for the national game to be run in a top class professional manner?