Peter Taylor looked down at Brian Clough on his knees outside his front door.
“So you’re apologising unreservedly…”
Clough grimaced.
“Yes, yes! Unreservedly.”
Clough got to his feet and Taylor hugged him.
“You’re going to mess it up again, aren’t you?”
Clough laughed.
“Probably…Would you want to be anywhere else?”
Taylor shook his head.
“No chance!”
Clough and Taylor went into the house and sat in the living room.
“There’s a sniff of a job in Nottingham…”
Taylor laughed.
“And I bet you can’t wait!”
Clough drank from a mug of tea.
“No, I can’t. But it’s not just about the football these days, is it? The world’s changing fast. Lots of things to worry about for those chairmen who are daft enough to be running a football club. “
Taylor nodded.
“And it’s only going to get worse in the future. How would a club cope with the threat from an attack, for example?”
Clough shrugged.
“I honestly don’t think many have thought about their security in that way. How would the staff inside and outside the stadiums communicate with each other? How would they raise the alarm? Have they been trained properly? Have the clubs got the right certifications and compliance?”
Clough was on his feet, standing in front of the window. He pointed to two boys playing football in the street.
“You see, Peter, all of this needs to be sorted out before our players take the field.”
Taylor nodded: “Sounds like all that could take some time. They need another Cloughie for that!”
Clough smiled: “They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but I wasn't on that particular job. In the future, I’m sure there’ll be a way to store all that information in one place, somewhere it can be accessed by everyone who needs it without reams of paperwork. I hear big things are coming in the world of computing.
“Even better, when the auditors and authorities come calling, there’ll be a clear audit trail to prove the club is keeping the public safe.”
Taylor nodded again: “No doubt there’ll be new laws to adhere to, so best to get our ducks in a row as soon as possible…”
Clough smiled.
“No doubt there’ll be some who resist making changes. Some always do. But we’ll talk about it for 20 minutes and then we’ll decide I was right.”
Taylor laughed aloud.
“Never let it be said that you’re shy and retiring, Brian!”
Is your football club ready for the implementation of the Protect Duty to be known as Martyn’s Law? The new rules following the Manchester Arena terror attack public inquiry, named after victim Martyn Hett, are set to come into effect in the coming months. Find out more here.
How could online compliance software Mango help your sports club stay on the right side of Martyn’s Law? Book a free demonstration which will be delivered via Zoom. We can help you achieve the ISOs your sports club needs, too, in areas like health and safety, data protection, safeguarding, and business continuity. Call Penarth Management on 029 2070 3328 or email info@penarth.co.uk