JULIE ELLIOTT MP: We need a sustainable future for football – we need an Independent Regulator

Football is the centre of so many communities up and down the UK, not least here in Sunderland – the club, and the Foundation, do amazing work in the community, supporting young people to play the sport, to access education and get the skills they need.

The club is one of the first features that people think of when they think about the city.

It is clear though, from the European Super League fiasco, to the increasing number of clubs at risk of liquidation, and the recent Financial Fair Play rulings against clubs like Everton and Nottingham Forest, that regulation is desperately needed.

I have long supported the introduction of a Regulator, that serves both the interest of fans, and in protecting the long-term financial sustainability of the game, and I welcome the Government’s introduction of the Bill to ensure this happens.

The proposed regulator will operate by a licensing system, where all clubs in the top five divisions must apply for a license to operate, and by receiving this license they are subject to stronger conditions of operation, including measures to prevent the entering of prohibited competitions, putting pay to any future ideas similar to that of the failed European Super League.

These conditions also include a strengthened Owners’ and Directors’ test, a minimum standard for fan engagement across the pyramid, and protections against the cultural and heritage aspects of clubs, including the names and ownership of grounds and the club colours.

Critically, the regulator will also be given the ‘backstop’ powers to intervene if a deal on financial distribution cannot be reached – the impasse that the game currently finds itself in is not sustainable, and the regulator will have the power to step in if necessary.

The Premier League is an incredible spectacle enjoyed around the world, but there are so many players, coaches or staff who worked their way up from the lower leagues to the very top, who owe their journeys to the footballing pyramid – and this is one of many reasons why we should protect it.

I will be holding the Government to account on this, to make sure it follows through on its commitments, whether in the House of Commons, or in Select Committee.

The game needs an Independent Regulator. Now is the time to make it happen.