As I write I have the refrains of two very different songs going through my head. First there is Frank Sinatra and High Hopes – the optimistic Ant and Ram with their respective rubber plant and dam wall. Second, there is Won’t Get Fooled Again by The Who. The title speaks for itself.

The high hopes are all founded on the major and much needed clear out of players this summer. Darren Moore appears to have been given free rein to move out those he wanted to and bring in the ones he wanted without too much influence of advisers, which is a real positive. Based on this there can be hopes of an improvement but no firm expectations of where the team might finish in the league. It will take some time for this scale of change to settle down and to have an impact. We also must accept that some of the recruitment will be good, some will be ok and some will just not work. It is right to be hopeful as a consequence of the squad changes, but maybe it is also good to be realistic about what can actually be achieved in 21/22.

The need to be not fooled again is more powerful for me. Mr Chansiri has spent well in excess of £100m on our club and he has put it in a worse position than when he took over in 2015 – that takes some doing. He now has a scale of control over the club via shares, debt and the stadium ownership that in my view is unhealthy. Despite all this I have always taken the view that campaigning for significant change in the way the run is club (either under the current or a new owner if needed) is better than the slogan “Chansiri Out”.

There clearly has been some change in the way the club is being run, and these are welcome, but are those changes ones just forced by circumstances? Or are they deep and permanent? In addition to the change in approach on recruitment, there appear to have been four other changes:

• The appointment of a Chief Operating Officer. It’s a positive step forward, but scepticism is justified because it’s not a CEO, it is an internal appointment, and we have been here before under Mr Chansiri, both with a COO and CEO.
•  A switch to a more traditional approach on kit rather than trying to buck the system. But is this just the need for cash up front that has driven the change rather than a shift in philosophy? Time will tell.
• Season ticket and match day prices have been reduced. The reductions are welcome, but they were going to have to fall anyway after relegation and of themselves don’t indicate the underlying philosophy has changed. We will see what the future brings.
• There was a welcome indication from Mr Chansiri that the club is going to have to move away from relying on the owner to support it financially and become more sustainable. Mr Chansiri has said other things in the past of course, so we must wait and see if this is a real and fundamental change in approach.

As welcome as the five changes are, we must hope that they are real and substantial and don’t constitute doing just enough to release the pressure on the club from fans organisations, fans’ and from the media that grew to consistent demand.

The financial position at the club is still far from clear, the club remains under EFL controls on recruitment, the club is under a suspended points deduction for non-payment of wages and the communication with fans is still poor. The five changes have been leaked out via unsubstantiated briefings to the local media, contrast that with the Aston Villa CEO posting a video explaining the background to the Grealish sale decision. Far more visible change is needed before some fans will believe it is real and long lasting. I am one of them.

Football clubs are more that just about what happens on the pitch. Most clubs began life as community institutions run by local custodians in the best interests of the club. Just because club ownership models have changed that does not mean the clubs can’t have a community purpose, and that community purpose being more than a Community Foundation and the programme of activities it runs. It is about connections with the community, being a community resource, community initiatives, building inclusion of all and diversifying the club fanbase. We have yet to see real evidence of change in these areas too. What is the club position in response to the Asset of Community Value application for Hillsborough Stadium?

The Chair of the Fan Led Review of Football Governance, Tracey Crouch MP, on 22 July delivered her initial report which covered the need for reform and then went on to put forward suggestions regarding independent regulation, protecting heritage assets (a ‘golden share’ in each club for fans), fan engagement and transparency, financial gaps between leagues, reforming governance by the FA etc, investing in football, the women’s game and the welfare of young players. A more detailed report with specific proposals is anticipated in October 2021. We will need to see how these translate into change at a national level and what they might mean for the governance and running of clubs, including for SWFC.

So, let’s be hopeful that the 21/22 season brings better fortunes on the pitch under Darren Moore (so much seems to be resting on him) and more change in the running of the club, whether that comes from local initiative or is mandated by national expectations. The changes that we have seen are welcomed but we need to see more of them.