The Government will relaunch the Football Governance Bill in the House of Lord’s on Thursday – with a number of changes to the initial Bill first launched in March.
The original Bill failed to progress through Parliament before July’s General Election, but has now been brought back by the Labour Government.
The Bill will establish an Independent Football Regulator, with ability to implement a backstop measure which could be used should the Premier League and EFL not find agreement over funding.
As a result, the new Bill, should it pass MP scrutiny, will now enable the Regulator a remit to include parachute payments, through the backstop mechanism, when assessing finances across the game.
The updated Bill will also now require clubs to provide ‘effective engagement’ with fans on ticket prices, at a time when some Premier League club supporters’ groups are concerned their teams are trying to price out loyal season ticket holders.
The Government’s foreign and trade policy will no longer come into consideration regarding approving club takeovers to insure Regulator independence.
Another significant change is the obligation on clubs to provide greater transparency on their work towards meeting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) standards as part of the regulator’s corporate governance code for clubs, something Kick It Out and the Black Footballers Partnership have both called for in the past.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “English football is one of our greatest exports and a source of national pride which this Government wants to see thrive for generations to come.
“But for too long, financial instability has meant loyal fans and whole communities have risked losing their cherished clubs as a result of mismanagement and reckless spending.
“This Bill seeks to properly redress the balance, putting fans back at the heart of the game, taking on rogue owners and crucially helping to put clubs up and down the country on a sound financial footing.”
The creation of an independent regulator for football was the central recommendation of the fan-led review, which was commissioned by the last Government in 2021 in the wake of the European Super League scandal.
The Conservatives made a fan-led review part of its 2019 General Election manifesto, in the months after the financial collapse of Bury.
Q&A: What will the Football Governance Bill mean?
Sky Sports News senior reporter Geraint Hughes:
The snappily titled Football Governance Bill is back. It never actually went away, it was just on the back-burner.
July’s General Election meant that the Bill Mark I couldn’t get through parliament before polling day. So the Football Governance Bill Mark II is in essence the same Bill, but with some changes. The new government say these changes will strengthen the Bill.
Because of the delay due to the election, the Bill effectively has to start again as a piece of work. That means practically, from Thursday, there will be no independent regulator for football and the bill will not become law, we are at the start of the process of a Bill becoming legislation, we’ve been here before and this may yet take some more time.
So what’s new?
The Bill Mark I was a rare thing in politics, it had cross-party support meaning MPs from all political parties more or less agreed on everything. It’s felt by some in government that the delay in bringing back the Bill will have some benefits, they’ve had a little bit more time to look at the details, look at some of the reaction to the first Bill and try and improve or strengthen things.
For the most part, it remains the same as last time, but there are five changes which are noticeable.
Those changes are that the Regulator, probably the most contentious part of the Bill, will now have a remit to include parachute payments through the backstop mechanism.
Clubs must ‘effectively engage’ with fans on things like ticket prices, compel clubs to ‘democratically’ select fan representatives, do far more than the previous Bill to improve equality, diversity and inclusion within the game.
And the Regulator will no longer be required to consider Government and Trade policy when approving club takeovers, it’s a move to try and show the Regulator’s independence from Government.
What happens now?
There is still quite a way to go before the Bill and a Regulator for football comes into force through Law. The Bill will officially get introduced to parliament, that’s a matter of process, and then it goes through a phase of being scrutinised by MPs in the Commons and select committees.
Timeframes on how long this can take are almost impossible to gauge as all stakeholders, not just MPs – including the Premier League, EFL, National League and FA – will want time to once again digest the Bill. Twelve to 18 months is an often heard timescale though.
How have football authorities responded to the Bill?
In response, the Premier League say the ”collective challenge is to ensure an effective model of regulation which can work in practice.”
They add: ”However, we remain concerned about the regulatory framework. Specifically, we believe rigid banking-style regulation, and the Regulator’s unprecedented and untested powers to intervene in the distribution of the Premier League’s revenues, could have a negative impact on the League’s continued competitiveness, clubs’ investment in world-class talent and, above all, the aspiration that drives our global appeal and growth.
“We appreciate the Government’s recognition of the role English football plays in the economy and society, and its commitment to ensure that these reforms provide protections to enable the Premier League’s continued global success.
“This is fundamental to the sustainability of the entire game, enabling the world-leading £1.6bn of funding in the last three years to EFL and National League clubs, the grassroots of the game, football communities and women’s and girls’ football.”
A statement from the EFL said: “It has been our long-held view that there is a requirement for Independent Regulation, and we believe the Bill has been framed in a way that will enable the new Regulator to protect and achieve the sustainability of clubs across the entire football pyramid.
“It is also pleasing that the State of the Game report, which will provide the objective and independent basis for the new Regulator’s work, will be delivered within 18 months. We look forward, in collaboration with our clubs, to making a significant contribution to this important piece of work.
“Alongside the issue of financial reform, the EFL also recognises the key and leading role it has to play across other areas the Bill addresses, including the role of fan consultation, heritage protection and the commitments made to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.”
Football reform group Fair Game largely welcomed the changes to the Bill but felt it still did not go far enough to address fair financial flow.
Its chief executive Niall Couper said: “If the Bill is to deliver financial sustainability for the football pyramid then the regulator must have powers to set parameters around what any deal must deliver – and that should include closing the gaps between divisions and rewarding well-run clubs.”
Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari welcomed the inclusion of EDI criteria within the regulator’s scope, and said: “Football rightly celebrates and makes promises about its ability to unite and represent communities. Now it needs to be more transparent and accountable for those promises.”
Delroy Corinaldi, the executive director of the Black Footballers Partnership, said: “Any chosen EDI strategy should ensure it is not about picking out a token black or brown face and giving them a job title without the power.
“EDI needs to be lived and breathed by the clubs if this Bill is to achieve the aim of removing biases and systemic obstacles to black footballers’ progression off the pitch.”
