Maria Caulfield, Member of Parliament for Lewes, welcomes Football Governance White Paper to safeguard football
I am proud to represent Lewes Constituency and proud to have Lewes Football Club as our local club. The organisation is a fantastic benefit to our area, and a great ambassador.
Not only do we have Lewes Football Club, we are also lucky to have brilliant local football clubs in Newhaven, Seaford, Chailey and Newick, Polegate and many more.
Football is part of our heritage, and so I am pleased to see the developments taken to safeguard its future.
The success of English football is an achievement that should rightly be celebrated. Our clubs, across the top divisions, have been great generators of tourism, jobs, and local pride. The Premier League is often looked at as the international standard for topflight football and attracts more viewers and revenue than any of its international rivals. It demonstrates the best of the UK on the world stage.
We, however, have all seen the litany of issues that have plagued the footballing world of late. Poor governance, lacklustre industry self-regulation and poor incentives have left many clubs endangered, with growing numbers of organisations across the top five tiers at risk of financial failure.
Debt has been growing in all tiers of the sport, with pre-tax losses across the Premier League and Championship totalling nearly £1.1bn in 2020/21, and net debt reaching a combined £5.9 billion.
Other challenges have threatened to derail the sport – the efforts to create a breakaway ‘Super League’ tarnished the reputations of, and trust in, many clubs.
It is clear that greater protection of the grassroots core of the sport is needed, and following the fan-lead review, the government is setting out measures to ensure this.
I embrace the proposals for a new Regulator, empowered to safeguard the interests of fans and local football communities.
This Regulator will set out, and operate, a licencing system to ensure that all clubs operating professionally are licenced, and therefore meeting the relevant requirements for appropriate financial resources, management, conduct and fan engagement.
As part of this system, the regulator will properly scrutinise the ownership, management and wider corporate governance of professional clubs, ensuring that any changes to these are in the best interests of the club as a whole.
The regulator will also put fans at the heart of football. This will include implementing minimum standards for fan engagement, reinforced protection of club heritage, and fan consultation and approval for any sales or relocations of the club. It will also ensure that clubs are only able to compete in approved competitions, preventing future ‘super-league’ attempts.
Across the board, these changes will ensure that Lewes Football Club remains a local club first, and protects our fans, current and future.