An independent diagnostic of how your club actually works.
Most underperforming clubs do not have a talent problem. They have a structure problem. Decision rights are unclear, accountability is diffuse, and the organisational design was inherited rather than chosen. The Structural Review is SSG’s entry diagnostic: a fixed-scope, independent assessment of how your club is organised, how decisions are actually made, and where structure is costing you performance.
A defined engagement, typically three to four weeks. Document review, structured interviews across ownership, executive, and sporting staff, and analysis against evidence from our research base. The output is a written report with a structural assessment, a prioritised set of interventions, and a clear view of what to fix first and why. No open-ended consulting retainer, no dependency. You get the diagnosis and the roadmap; implementation support is available but never assumed.
The review is grounded in the Integrated Performance Structures Framework, research developed at Manchester Metropolitan University identifying structural simplicity, leadership cohesion, and behaviour-led culture as the primary performance determinants in resource-constrained clubs. It has been applied in practice: a full strategic review for Bury FC and a structural diagnostic for a top-flight Norwegian club. The full range of SSG services is outlined here.
Owners who suspect the organisation underneath them is not built for what they are asking it to deliver. Incoming investors who want a structural view before or after completion. Executives inheriting a club and needing an independent baseline. Boards weighing a restructure and wanting evidence before acting.
A structural review costs a fraction of one mis-hire and typically pays for itself in the first intervention it prevents or corrects. If the question “who actually decides this” produces different answers depending on who you ask, the review will tell you why, and what to do about it.
