English football is to take a new direction after the government confirmed plans for an independent regulator of the game, but crucial concerns over financial redistribution may yet hinder any progress.
On Thursday the government will present its white paper on football governance in the men’s elite game to the House of Commons. Its plan is to create a regulator “established in law to oversee the financial sustainability of the game and put fans back at the heart of how football is run”. Following a period of consultation, those plans will be the turned into legislation “as soon as parliamentary time allows”, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says.
Among the regulator’s powers will be the control of licensing, with clubs having to prove their solvency and “sound financial business models” before being allowed to compete. The regulator will also oversee a new test for owners and directors designed to ensure “good custodians of clubs” and “stronger due diligence on sources of wealth”. It will also be able to stop clubs from joining breakaway competitions such as the European Super League, while fans will have a voice on matters of “heritage”.
All these powers were largely expected, and broadly welcomed by the game’s key stakeholders. The FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said he endorsed the white paper’s “commitment to improving the financial sustainability and governance of professional clubs”. The Premier League said the publication of the white paper was a “significant moment for English football” and that it recognised “the case for change in football governance”. The EFL called it “a landmark moment for the future of our game”.
Football authorities were joined by politicians in offering their endorsement. Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, said: “We know there are real challenges which threaten the stability of clubs both big and small. These bold new plans … will safeguard the beautiful game for future generations.” The shadow DCMS secretary, Lucy Powell, said “Football reform has support across parliament, and across the country”, although she added that the government should “urgently bring forward legislation, or take responsibility for any clubs that go under.”
Beneath the welcome for plans that – in broad terms – conform with the recommendations made by Tracey Crouch’s fan-led review 18 months ago, tension remains. The white paper will confirm that the regulator is to be given backstop powers to force the EFL, Premier League and FA to agree a new financial settlement for the game. That too was a recommendation of the fan-led review, but in the intervening months the parties have not been able to agree upon anything approximating a solution.
For the EFL the situation is clear: the football pyramid needs more money from the Premier League. The Premier League believes it gives enough money already, but will consider an increase. The mechanism for such a deal remains out of reach, however, with the Premier League rejecting the latest idea from the EFL to close the gap in prize money between the top flight and the Championship by changing the scale at which clubs are paid.
The EFL says the winner of the two divisions should receive twice as much as the team that finishes bottom, which would close the disparity in prize money between 20th in the Premier League and the winner of the Championship by half. The Premier League, however, is not willing to change its current ratio of 1.65 to 1, seen by many as a secret of the competition’s success as it maintains a more level playing field.
The campaigner and former chairman of the FA, David Bernstein, said the white paper may have missed an opportunity to enforce a settlement on parties who cannot see eye to eye. Bernstein added that redistribution is an issue the game “has tried to sort out without agreement” and that negotiations are “an unequal struggle” that favours the Premier League.
“Resolving this questions should be directly part of the regulator’s brief,” said Bernstein, a central voice in calling for an independent regulator, “otherwise, there will be a void.”
The FA also vocalised their concerns over redistribution. The fan-led review recommended that more money should go from the Premier League not only to the EFL but the grassroots game. In responding to the white paper, Bullingham insisted that this commitment should not be forgotten. “The players, referees, coaches and volunteers in grassroots football are the foundations of the English game, and it is important that an independent regulator recognises this and supports the long term health of the whole game”, he said.
However, the proposals were met with a furious response from West Ham’s co-owner David Sullivan. On Wednesday night Sky Sports’ chief reporter, Kaveh Solhekol, reported Sullivan saying: “It’s a terrible idea. The government are terrible at running everything. Look at the mess the country’s in. We pay the highest taxes for the worst service from the worst government I’ve seen in my life. The regulator will have a huge staff that football will have to pay for. It will be a total waste of money.”
