“People are saying, ‘who do you think the mole is?’ If you had asked for volunteers to stitch them up and not get caught, you would have a queue around the block. I’ve not heard anyone come out and defend them and I don’t think you will.”  The events of the past five days have had the feel of a crumbling empire. The foundations were effectively dismantled by the first clip of Keys and Gray’s sexist behaviour towards assistant referee Sian Massey, who, having kept away from the media storm, will return to officiating on Saturday to referee the Corby Town v Eastwood Town clash in Conference North.  Since that original incident, the remaining bricks have tumbled with surprising ease. Sky Sports’ apparent disinterest in how the material has been leaked suggests a strong desire to overhaul the culture, beginning at the very top.  “I know for a fact that there is no witch-hunt about the leaked material,” said the former colleague. “They have not launched an investigation into who leaked these clips. There is no comeback at all.”  Among the more generous observations yesterday from those who have worked with Keys and Gray is that the environment was akin to a football dressing-room with banter flying between the staff.  “There is a lot of banter and Andy’s brought it from the dressing-room,” said one Sky pundit. “It is normally all man-to-man. There are not many women around.”  “Little people didn’t seem to exist to Richard,” said a former presenter. “Comments could be nasty, disparaging and scornful.” The former production team member said that Keys would often inform them that they should be grateful for drinking from the “well of success” that he and Grays had created.  Broadcast cameramen would sometimes apologise to female presenters for not sticking up for them if inappropriate remarks were made. “It’s like Karma — what goes around comes around,” said the former member of their production team. “If you treat people badly on the way up there will be nobody to try and protect you on the way down.  “I’ve worked with several different companies and it is everyone in together. It basically felt like you weren’t allowed to speak to people like Keys and Gray unless they asked you a question. They made themselves inaccessible.”  “I don’t think they knew my name half the time,” he said. “I didn’t see any manners or courtesy. I never got a word of thanks. It had always been my dream to work in television but being there did make that a bit sour. It took me leaving and working somewhere else to restore faith that working in the media actually can be good fun.”  According to the insider, there has been a change since Barney Francis became Sky Sports managing director. The boxing producer Chris Brown was dismissed last year over allegations of bullying from members of his team and Francis clearly wants to tackle the perception of a macho culture. A third member of staff said the football department was known to be the hardest place to work. “When people have moved out of football to another sport, I’ve heard of a lot of them say that a weight has been lifted and they can start enjoying their job.”  In the New Statesman, a former Sky Sports commentator also described a culture of sexism and bullying. “Isn’t it odd that as soon as incontrovertible proof of Gray and Keys’s attitudes first emerged, the floodgates opened?” he said. “The list of suspects is long: in the past two decades, they have upset as many people as they’ve watched football games.  “I’ve seen Keys berating production staff with a stream of invective down the years; I’ve seen one researcher pushed close to the edge.”  According to several sources people felt that it was difficult to complain about aggressive behaviour. The rumour within Sky Sports is that the footage of Gray and Keys that has caused such outrage was anonymously placed on a general server for anyone within the company to access.  “They have thought they are bombproof,” said the former colleague. “Over the past few years, the company has become bigger than them. It doesn’t need them any more. It’s just brilliant to see them get a taste of their own medicine.”  In a radio interview yesterday, Keys denied any inherent sexism within the sports department at Sky.  “We got people to air that were able to enjoy an afternoon as if they were sitting in their own lounge,” he said. “Television studios are enormously intimidating places so we’d put people at ease by having a little chuckle and a little laugh.”  In the same interview, he also suggested Brady had deliberately not returned his call as she wanted to keep West Ham off the media’s agenda, a claim vehemently denied by the club’s vice-chairwoman last night. “Perhaps Richard thought I was too busy making the tea and washing up to take his call but a glance at the newspapers would have made him well aware that I was heavily occupied with the Olympic stadium bid. I did not ask to be part of his sexist tirade.”
Colleagues of Richard Keys and Andy Gray at Sky Sports have hailed their    departures as the end of a feared &ldquo;boys&rsquo; club&rdquo; that had developed beneath    the company&rsquo;s two most senior football presenters.