Football Governance Bill: MPs support independent football regulator despite Premier League objections

MPs have supported a law to introduce an independent regulator to English football.

This comes after an intense lobbying campaign by the Premier League, which has warned that the legislation could have “unintended consequences”. It has showered MPs with free hospitality tickets in the run up to the vote.

The Football Governance Bill would create an independent football regulator for England, install a new club licensing regime and alter the distribution of revenue down the football pyramid. It would mean stricter regulation in terms of owners of football clubs, although wouldn’t prohibit foreign states buying teams, such as Newcastle United and Manchester City.

What is the Football Governance Bill?

The Football Governance Bill has been brought in by the government to help “the long-term sustainability and resilience of English football”. The legislation is based around the Fan Led Review, by former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch.

The key recommendations were for an independent football regulator, a new owners and directors test and more consultation with fans on major changes to clubs’ identity and heritage. Crouch has said: “Good financial sustainability in football clubs is not going to impact competitiveness negatively, I think it’s going to help them thrive.”

The regulator will have a raft of powers to ensure clubs are sustainably run, to force unfit owners to divest their stakes in clubs, to ensure fans are consulted on major issues affecting their clubs, and to block teams from joining unapproved competitions such as the European Super League. Arguably the most eye-catching aspect is the backstop powers it will have to impose a financial settlement on the Premier League and the EFL if they cannot agree on one themselves.

Currently, the Premier League decides how much money it will pass down to English Football League clubs in the Championship and below, and also sets rules around spending. However a raft of lower-league clubs getting into financial trouble, or in the worst case scenario like Bury going out of existence, has prompted the government to act.

Premier League lobbying blitz

The Premier League has come out firmly against the bill, claiming it will “reduce our competitiveness and weaken the incredible appeal of the English game”. Chief executive Richard Masters recently wrote an opinion piece in the Times saying “unintended consequences of regulation generate significant risks”.

It has embarked on a lobbying blitz of MPs, showering them with hospitality tickets ahead of the vote. Between 25 February and 12 March, Parliament’s Register of Members’ Financial Interests showed that the Premier League gave out more than £12,000 worth of gifts to seven different MPs, including the Labour leader.

Sir Keir Starmer was given £3,000 worth of hospitality tickets to Arsenal vs Porto on 12 March, while Tory MPs Therese Coffey and Justin Tomlinson were donated tickets worth more than £1,000 to the League Cup final.

The Premier League gifted Labour frontbenchers Pat McFadden, Peter Kyle and Liz Kendall hospitality tickets to the Brit Awards worth thousands of pounds. Over the last year, the Premier League has made 25 separate donations to MPs, with these seven coming in a three-week period just before the Football Governance Bill was introduced to Parliament. Over that same short timeframe, the EFL gave Carabao Cup final tickets to SNP MPs Stephen Flynn and David Linden worth £700. 

As well as giving tickets to MPs, the Premier League has regularly bought advertising space in the influential Politico Playbook email. The advert reads: “As the Government regulates football for the first time, we must guard against unintended consequences that would damage this iconic UK asset.”

Premier League legend and Sky Sports star Gary Neville hit out at the adverts, which are targeted at journalists, politicians and civil servants. He said: “The Premier League stooping to a new low putting paid ads out attacking the New Regulator for football! How to embarrass yourselves and look small!”

The night before the vote, Masters hosted a drinks reception in Westminster for MPs and aides. The politicians were served arancini and cheese soufflés as Masters once again warned of “unintended consequences”.

What have MPs said about a football regulator?

Opening the debate in Parliament, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lucy Frazer said the Football Governance Bill will ensure the financial sustainability of the football pyramid. She told the Commons: “Too many fans have seen their team’s owners change club badges and colours without any fan input, or seen their clubs sell their stadium and up sticks.

“Too many fans watched on as their clubs tried to join closed shop breakaway leagues, against their wishes. And too many fans have seen their clubs struggle and even collapse under the weight of mismanagement and poor ownership.

“There have been 64 instances of clubs falling into administration since the Premier League was founded in 1992. Clearly, not all clubs are feeling the benefits of English football’s global success and something has to change.”

Frazer’s Labour shadow Thangam Debbonaire said a new football regulator could be “transformative”. She explained: “This new law will not fix all of football’s problems, and nor is it designed to. I believe it can be transformative if it is done right, both through its passage in Parliament and in the crucial implementation phase.

“The prize here can be greater financial sustainability across the whole football pyramid and, crucially, fans having a greater say in how their clubs are run. Now, I say it can be those things but it’s up to us to make sure that happens because this is what fans deserve.”

Former Sports Minister Crouch, who authored the Fan Led Review, told MPs: “I love football and while the Premier League continues to cast me and others who support this Bill as the enemy of success, investment, growth and international competitiveness, I would argue that quite the opposite is true.

“The Premier League is one of our finest exports and nothing in my review or this Bill changes that. Instead, this Bill protects the pyramid from the vulnerabilities and fragilities that have challenged football over the years; it protects football clubs from those owners who forget they are merely custodians of something greater than a trinket.

“It serves to protect fans, clubs and entire communities from losing their heart and soul and for that I hope the whole Parliament will come together to support this Bill and get it onto the statute book as quickly as possible.”

How did my MP vote?

The bill received an unopposed second reading and will undergo further scrutiny at a later date.

Ralph Blackburn is NationalWorld’s politics editor based in Westminster, where he gets special access to Parliament, MPs and government briefings. If you liked this article you can follow Ralph on X (Twitter) here and sign up to his free weekly newsletter Politics Uncovered, which brings you the latest analysis and gossip from Westminster every Sunday morning.