The Football Governance Bill: Why it’s happening, what it will mean, and will it work?
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The Football Governance Bill is set to bring a new era of regulation to football.
It will create an Independent Football Regulator to oversee the financial and cultural sustainability of men’s clubs in the English league pyramid. While significant, it’s not the government’s first attempt to regulate football.
LCP is calling for the following to ensure the Bill benefits fans, clubs, and the wider football community:
The Regulator must work closely with stakeholders across the industry, with a particular focus on the Football Association.
The IFR is entering a space already occupied by several regulatory bodies, including the Football Association (FA), Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Many of the problems in football governance come from self-interested regulations set by these organisations. To be effective, the Regulator must challenge this culture and work collaboratively with other governing bodies, including the leagues themselves, the Premier League, the English Football League (EFL) and the National League.
The Regulator must also work closely with the FA to guide its reform and build a modern football governance structure. The focus should be on improving and strengthening the FA, not sidelining it. To support this, the Regulator should offer the FA a seat on its board.
The financial gaps between leagues must be addressed, with parachute payments a key consideration.
The introduction of the IFR offers a chance to rethink how revenue is distributed across the football pyramid. Despite serving fewer clubs, the Premier League has a domestic broadcast deal worth around 9 times per annum that of the EFL. This imbalance has led to a “famine at a feast”, attracting greater investment to the top tier while leaving lower-league clubs struggling.
The current parachute payment system, designed to help relegated clubs, has only served to deepen these inequalities. As a result, clubs outside the Premier League often take financial risks in pursuit of promotion. As such, in this gambling culture even the cautious can get dragged to the table.
Including parachute payments in broader financial reforms is a positive step. However, this alone will not be enough to reduce these divisions. The Regulator (working with the Premier League and the EFL) may have to use a range of financial levers and regulations to facilitate the changes that are needed.
The IFR must break away from past regulatory failures.
Previous attempts to regulate the industry have failed for two core reasons. The first is a lukewarm approach to introducing regulation from football’s authorities, and the second is a culture of “delegated self-regulation,” where, in the absence of an accountable governing body, constituent leagues have self-regulated in a way that serves only their own members.
This new regulation must be different from previous attempts. It should offer holistic solutions for clubs and other organisations across the football pyramid.
