This article examines attempts in Northern Ireland to deal with the crisis in local soccer. Its main immediate focus is on the conclusions of a ministerial advisory committee, of which the author was a member, which sat from October 2000 until its findings were published in December 2001, but the article also reflects on earlier reports on the state of domestic soccer in Northern Ireland. Far from being wholly insular in its concerns, the authors of the 2001 report drew upon the experiences of other small European nations, including Norway and Sweden, particularly in relation to the issue of national governance. This broader perspective is reflected in the article, which challenges the assumption that national football associations, especially smaller ones, have little power to initiate change. It is also argued, however, that not only global but also local factors can limit the capacity for change of individual governing bodies and that this is particularly apparent in the Northern Irish case.