Carter the convert deals in cuts and a card school

Hallelujah! The man now nominally in charge of the nation's sport, but who was perceived to care little about it, has seen the light. He is a believer. When Patrick Carter, hard-core businessman and Cabinet confidant, landed the job as the chairman of Sport England last November, sport itself was distinctly underwhelmed. He had no track record, and unlike all his predecessors had never zipped up a tracksuit.

So he bridled a bit when, in his first major interview, I questioned that someone with no apparent passion for sport should now be running it. "I'm not sure passion is a necessary qualification,'' he retorted after a long pause. "Yes, there's room for passion but there's also room for analysis.'' Then he added: "A couple of months ago you might have been right, but now I have the zeal of the convert. I've seen how sport touches people's lives. From being managerial about it, I have become a zealot. I feel lucky at my age to have a new experience.''

Carter is 57, and despite discovering his new love late in life he clearly remains a top-drawer bottom-liner, the man with the smoking gun brought in to ensure Sport England hit their financial target. Last week the erstwhile invisible man finally revealed himself to be as affable as he is affluent – his millions come from private healthcare and banking – but the jury is still out as to whether he is the right custodian for sport, and he knows it. "Judge me in a year's time," he asks. We will.

He is as different to the man he succeeds, Trevor Brooking, as Glenn Roeder is to Harry Redknapp, but they do share one sporting "passion'', the belief that competitive sport must return to schools, along with the school sports day.

Carter also enthuses about a pilot scheme he has seen at Langdon School in Barking, where the kids are given a smart-card incentive, winning points for good behaviour, turning up for lessons, eating school dinners and, naturally, not bunking off. They get reward points which can be redeemed for coaching sessions at local leisure centres, riding lessons, tickets for West Ham – even a Hammers kit. No doubt this is one card school of which Upton Park director Brooking will approve.

Away from the school fields, Carter knows he has some tough decisions to make, with Sport England's Lottery funding facing cuts as severe as those to the staff. Governing bodies, he says, must prove their administrative confidence and that they can produce winners if they are to receive funding. He needs to exercise prudence, but it will be a shame if only the small fry suffer. As a convert he promises to fight sport's corner fairly and squarely, and this includes backing the London Olympics, provided that the financial footing is right. With his connections, this support could be crucial.

Still, it is hard to know what to make of Jack Straw's best pal, who admits he felt like a Martian when he landed on planet sport. You can't call him a mercenary because he doesn't need the dosh. So why did he take the £30,000-a-year part-time job? "Because I believe I can make a difference.'' Well, he's a believer now. But sport still needs to be convinced.