Last week, the independent Fan Led Review of Football Governance has published its final report and recommendations.
The main recommendations from the Fan Led Review are:
- To ensure the long-term sustainability of football, the Government should create a new Independent Regulator for English Football through an Act of Parliament.
- To ensure financial sustainability of the professional game, the Independent Regulator for English Football should oversee financial regulation in football.
- New owners’ and directors’ tests for clubs should be established by the Independent Regulator for English Football replacing the three existing tests and ensuring that only good custodians and qualified directors can run these vital assets.
- Football needs a new approach to corporate governance to support a long-term sustainable future of the game.
- Football needs to improve equality, diversity and inclusion in clubs with committed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans regularly assessed by the Independent Regulator for English Football.
- As a uniquely important stakeholder, supporters should be properly consulted by their clubs in taking key decisions by means of a Shadow Board.
- Football clubs are a vital part of their local communities. In recognition of this there should be additional protection for key items of club heritage.
- Fair distributions are vital to the long term health of football. The Premier League should guarantee its support to the pyramid and make additional, proportionate contributions to further support football.
- Women’s football should be treated with parity and given its own dedicated review.
- As an urgent matter, the welfare of players exiting the game needs to be better protected - particularly at a young age.
As a football fan and the former Minister for Sport, I believe football governance must keep evolving if it is to keep pace with the challenges of the modern game. The global commercial attractiveness of English football is something to be celebrated, but not at the expense of supporters and their communities.
I welcome the publication of this review of football governance, which was based on over 100 hours of engagement with Supporters’ Trusts, fan groups, women’s football representatives, football authorities, club owners, players representatives, and underrepresented groups, alongside over 20,000 fans responding to an online survey.
I want to extend my gratitude to the former Sports Minister, Tracey Crouch MP, for compiling this report which serves as a thorough and detailed examination of the challenges faced by English football. It is a demonstration of the financial problems being caused by incentives within the game and reckless decision making by some clubs and owners, both of which are unsustainable and threaten the future of the game. It is clear that current oversight of the game is not up to the challenge of solving the structural challenges and action must be taken.
I am encouraged the Government was so quick to indicate it will consider the detailed recommendations of the report ahead of providing a full response in Spring 2022 – which will include a plan of action across Government. Ahead of that formal response, however, I warmly welcome the Culture Secretary’s announcement the Government has endorsed in principle the primary recommendation of the review: that football requires a strong, independent regulator to secure the future of our national game.