Legislation to create new English football regulator to be unveiled

A new independent regulator for English football will be given the power to remove “unsuitable” owners and prevent clubs from changing their team’s badges without consulting fans, under legislation being introduced in parliament on Tuesday.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport said the new body would have “robust powers” in order to meet its three main objectives: “To improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues and to safeguard the heritage of English football.”

While multibillion-pound TV deals have made the Premier League the richest club contest in football, many teams further down the pyramid are under financial strain.

English football clubs have suffered high-profile blow-ups, such as Bury and Macclesfield Town, debt has soared, while many teams outside the top flight spend more on players’ wages than their total income.

Rishi Sunak, UK prime minister, said football was “one of our greatest sources of national pride”, but “for too long some clubs have been abused by unscrupulous owners who get away with financial mismanagement, which at worst can lead to complete collapse”.

The idea of an independent regulator for football has been discussed for several years, but the push towards legislation came in the wake of the failed European Super League in 2021. Six Premier League clubs attempted to join the new breakaway competition, but the plan unravelled following mass protests from fans and staunch opposition from governments and governing bodies.

The legislation comes a day after Nottingham Forest became the second Premier League club this season to receive a points deduction for breaching financial rules.

The new body, dubbed the Independent Football Regulator, will bring with it “stronger tests” for owners and directors of football clubs, DCMS said, but it will also have the power to remove those deemed to be “unsuitable” because of “persistent and wilful non-compliance” with the tests.

The regulator will be granted backstop powers to force a financial settlement between the Premier League and English Football League, which represents the 72 clubs in the second, third and fourth tier. The two have been at loggerheads over a new deal to send money from top-tier clubs to those in the lower leagues.

Speaking at the FT’s Business of Football Summit last month, culture secretary Lucy Frazer urged the two leagues to reach a deal themselves, and insisted “football should resolve the issues in football”.

Kevin Miles, chief executive of the Football Supporters’ Association, said the ability to impose a financial settlement was vital, adding: “It is far too important to be left to the squabbling between the vested interests of the richest club owners.”

The regulator will be given the task of implementing a new licensing system that would include minimum standards of fan engagement, covering “key off-field decisions”, such as changes to team badges, names and colours. The licences will also require clubs to provide protections against joining new breakaway competitions and relocating stadiums.

Women’s professional football in England will not fall under the new regulator.