Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Robbie Savage & Yorkshire CCC (again)

Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.

HIT - ROBBIE SAVAGE

As a player, Robbie Savage was a bombastic midfielder who compensated for a lack of flair with a dynamism and determination that ensured he played at the top level for many years including almost a decade representing Wales.

Now a popular TV pundit, Savage has an energy that sets him apart from the more measured style many pundits and presenters adopt.

But he faces what he describes as “the hardest thing I've ever done” by trying to resurrect Macclesfield, the non-league club that has fallen on hard times.

As Macclesfield Town, the club yo-yoed between the Football League and Conference for a while before financial problems saw it being wound up in the High Court in September 2020.

A club that had been in existence for almost 150 years had accrued debts of more than half a million pounds before being wound up and expelled from the National League.

The Silkmen Supporters’ Trust (SST) said: “The SST are devastated by the decision of the court to wind up Macclesfield Town Football Club.

“The court ruling is in effect the end of the club in the present format. There is no easy way back from this.

“The only way forward now, and it may be a positive, would be to form a new club, just like Bury have done, debt free. The SST furthermore hope than the fanbase will unify behind whatever club we have in the future.”

The remnants of the club were then bought by a local businessman, Robert Smethurst, who brought Savage in to join the board.

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity to rebuild a historic football club for Macclesfield and the surrounding areas and I want to ensure that we bring the footballing heartbeat back to the local community,” Smethurst said.

“My vision over the months and years is to rebuild the club, pitch and stadium facilities and to re-invest the income generated from that back into creating a first team and into a club overall.

“I am passionate about building a secure business model and strong commercial foundation so the past issues the club has experienced will not happen again.”

Savage commented at the time: “I was devastated to see what happened here at Macclesfield, a club steeped in history and worth more than any value in money to locals.

“I am privileged to be asked to take up a role and I was genuinely surprised to get the call.

“I live within a stones throw from the ground and have integral links with the club as a local grassroots coach and father who brings his kids here to spectate.”

It would have been tempting for Savage to use his profile to promote Macclesfield without getting involved significantly, but this month he has highlighted how involved he has become with the club and why it matters.

He explained: “Helping to raise a football club from the ashes, and running it as director of football operations, is the hardest thing I've ever done by a million miles.

“What we have done is to restore a focal point to an area which was taken away when Macclesfield Town was liquidated. Bust. Extinct.

“When my business partner Rob Smethurst rang me up and said he wanted to rebuild the club as Macclesfield FC, and to bring me on board as his director of football operations, I thought he was mad.

“There was no team, no manager, no income, the ground was in a shocking state and I didn't have a clue about what went into the administration of a football club.

“Over the last 12 months, I've found myself cleaning glasses in the bar, planting corner flags on matchday, dealing with the police, health and safety, fire brigade... people you never meet ordinarily as a rank-and-file player.

“I've been to watch more games, scouting for talent, than I've watched on TV. I've been to more meetings in a year than I've attended in the rest of my life put together.

“I've found myself dredging emotions I never expected to release – whether it's running down to the touchline from my seat in the stand to berate a player, or letting off steam in the dressing room at half-time.

“I've even found myself charging across the pitch to break up brawling fans – something you don't expect to see in the North West Counties League.”

With his successful broadcasting career, Savage could reasonably have sought the easy life.

But he has chosen to take on a project at the very heart of the local community, with all the jobs, opportunities and responsibility that such a role entails.

And it hasn’t taken long to get the club back on its feet. The club are currently top of the North West Counties Premier Division and bringing hope and optimism to those who thought their club was gone forever.

Savage added: “We now have 600 players on the books, from first team down to primary school kids at grass roots level, in a culture where nobody is considered better than anyone else.

“There are 29 teams, including a ladies' team, an academy, and we've already had a 16-year-old making his first-team debut. The future is bright.”

MISS – YORKSHIRE CCC

There was a time, not so long ago, when racism was part and parcel of British society.

Some would say that it has increased again in recent years, particularly in light of Brexit and a rise in far right sentiment that has prompted debates about diversity and sports stars taking the knee to highlight racial inequality and bigotry.

By and large, any organisation accused or associated with inequality or racism does everything it can to address its problems or invite third party organisations to help it improve its systems and processes so that there is no repeat in future.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club have had one such issue over the past year or so since bowler Azeem Rafiq made allegations of racism at the club, which we wrote about in the summer.

George Dobell, leading cricket writer with ESPNCricinfo, told the BBC that even Yorkshire’s investigative process left a lot to be desired.

He said: “Firstly, they (Yorkshire) didn’t want to call for a report to be made. It was only after the club had to acknowledge that there was a problem and the ECB got in touch that they had to commission a report.

“Now the report was anything but independent. It was paid for by the club, it used a firm of lawyers where the Chair used to work, the panel were hand picked by the club…then the report has fallen over itself to exonerate to all involved.”

Yorkshire issued what was termed a ‘full apology,’ and said: “There were many allegations made against the club most of which relate to a period more than 10 years ago. Many of the allegations were not upheld and for others there was insufficient evidence for the panel to make a determination.

“It is right, however, to acknowledge from the outset that several of the allegations made by Azeem were upheld and that sadly, historically, Azeem was the victim of inappropriate behaviour. This is clearly unacceptable. We would like to express our profound apologies for this.”

Since then, though, Yorkshire have appeared to protect those who were involved. Apparently reluctant to publish the full investigation report, Yorkshire have lost control, with leaks painting a devastating picture of the culture pervading the club.

The issue has come to a head recently after some details of Yorkshire’s report were made public by ESPNCricinfo which was described as being “in the spirit of friendly banter” in the club’s summary of their investigation’s findings.

According to leaks, a racist player at the club admitted telling other people “don't talk to him (Rafiq), he's a P**i”; asking “is that your uncle?” when bearded Asian men were in view; and saying in reference to corner shops: “Does your Dad own those?” The player, who was named in the report and is still at the club, was found not guilty of racist behaviour.

Rafiq's former team-mate Gary Ballance then responded to speculation by confirming that he was responsible for some of the racist language Rafiq was subjected to.

Yorkshire’s recent statement on the matter has unsurprisingly led to widespread criticism. It said: “Club chair Roger Hutton believes the club and everyone connected to it should be proud of the work that the club has done to improve diversity and inclusion prior to his involvement, but equally acknowledges there remains much to be done going forward.”

“The club is fully supportive of what is a strong and talented team which is working hard on the recommendations on the way forward for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and looks forward being able to report on further developments over the coming months.”

The reluctance of the club to take disciplinary action against any player, employee or executive over the harassment smacks of self-interest and a failure to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

Remember, last year Rafiq claimed "institutional racism" at the club left him close to taking his own life.

Writing on Twitter, Rafiq said: “Wow just when you think this club couldn’t get more embarrassing you find a way. Still awaiting the FULL report. Thanks for mentioning the people that have provided your PROTECTION & given green light to RACISM.”

Will cricketers want to join the club under its current regime? Will fans abandon the club that no longer reflects the values that they hold?

It’s certainly already had an impact on the commercial side, for instance, with Arla Foods, the Danish food company who produce Anchor, confirming that their butter brand will not renew their club sponsorship.

Main sponsor Emerald issued a statement last week also cutting ties with the club stating: “We have today taken the decision to remove our brand association with Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Headingley Stadium.

“We do not tolerate any form of racism or discriminatory behaviour and the damaging effects this has. We hope that YCCC will listen and respond with serious action to eradicate racism from the club and uphold the values we all expect.”

Yorkshire Tea, a brand synonymous with the club and the area, also cut ties. It said: “We were upset to read about the experiences of Azeem Rafiq during his time at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

“We wholeheartedly believe that cricket should be a sport for everyone, but his experiences and the way the panel report has been handled don't reflect that.

“Our current partnership with YCCC was naturally coming to an end but we have taken the decision to end it with immediate effect.”

Tetley’s beer also made a statement which said: “As a brand we strive to be inclusive and to work with partners that share these values. We are deeply saddened by the ongoing conversation surrounding Yorkshire County Cricket Club following the recent investigation and report, and firmly believe further decisive action is required.

“As such, we have informed Yorkshire Country Cricket Club of our intention to not extend our official beer sponsorship with them beyond the end of the current contractual agreement.”

Sportswear giant Nike, who only began its four-year partnership with Yorkshire in March this year, also announced that it would end its partnership.

“Nike will no longer be the kit supplier for Yorkshire CCC. We stand firmly against racism and discrimination of any kind.”

Politicians have also got involved, with Julian Knight MP stating: “Given the endemic racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, I struggle to think of any reason why that the board should remain in post. This is one of the most repellent and disturbing episodes in modern cricket history.”

Knight, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee chair later demanded the resignation of members of Yorkshire's board over what he described as the 'endemic racism' at the club. 

He commented: “We want to see much greater transparency from YCCC - it is time for them to answer their critics. We intend to call the Chair of the club before the DCMS Committee to give a much fuller explanation than we have had so far.”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid added his thoughts, tweeting: ““Paki” is not banter. Heads should roll at Yorkshire CCC. If @ECB_cricket doesn’t take action it’s not fit for purpose.”

The ECB have since made a statement which said: “"We are conscious about the length of time that Azeem has waited for resolution and the toll that must be taking on his wellbeing and that of his family.  We are sorry that, as a sport, this has not yet been resolved.

"We will conduct a full regulatory process that is fair to all parties, but also ensure this happens as quickly as possible. To achieve this, we have secured the services of a QC, along with other external investigatory support to upweight resource around our process. The ECB Board has also reaffirmed its commitment to further additional resource, should the investigation require it.

"We are aware that The Select Committee have called Yorkshire’s Chair, Roger Hutton to give evidence. In the meantime, we will press ahead with our investigation."

The ECB later suspended Yorkshire from hosting international matches while Chair Roger Hutton resigned, taking the opportunity to both apologise and point the finger at Board members.

He said: "I am sorry that we could not persuade executive members of the board to recognise the gravity of the situation and show care and contrition.

"There has been a constant unwillingness from the executive members of the board and senior management at the club to apologise and to accept [there was] racism and to look forward.

"During my time as chairman, I take responsibility for failing to persuade them to take appropriate and timely action.

"This frustration has been shared by all of the non-executive members of the board, some of whom have also now resigned."

Nevertheless, the situation has been handled so badly that it will go down as a case study in how not to deal with an issue or a crisis.

Yorkshire have lacked transparency and integrity throughout and sought to criticise Rafiq instead of dealing with institutional racism that has left their reputation in tatters.

There is speculation that they will release their full report this week, but the damage has already been done.

The ECB and DCMS will now no doubt demand significant changes to both the Board and the culture at Yorkshire, but the question remains why this has all taken so long to deal with appropriately.