Government Urged To Fast-Track Football Regulator As Clubs Face Collapse
4 min read
Labour MPs and peers are urging the government to expedite the implementation of the new football regulator as two English football clubs face financial crises.
Labour parliamentarians in areas where clubs risk collapse have called for action as soon as Parliament returns from its summer recess at the start of September, with one party grandee warning that ministers cannot "stand by fiddling while Rome burns".
There are growing fears within the English game that Morecambe FC and Sheffield Wednesday could soon be the next clubs to go out of business.
Both clubs have recently been dealt transfer embargoes over delayed payments to players and staff, while 105-year-old Morecambe was suspended from the National League in July, prompting Prime Minister Keir Starmer to say he was "very concerned".
Sheffield Wednesday – which currently plays in the division below the Premier League, the Championship – faces a possible points deduction over failure to pay players, and there were doubts that it would be able to play its first game of the season against Leicester last Sunday.
In recent years, a number of football clubs have fallen into administration under the weight of financial pressures, including Bury FC and Macclesfield Town.
The Labour government has pledged to make the game more financially sustainable through a series of reforms, including a new independent regulator. The plans, set out in the Football Governance Act, became law in July.
The regulator, which faced some opposition from elements of the sport, is designed to police the top five leagues of English football. It will impose an owners’ and directors' test on 116 clubs to ensure they are not captured by rogue owners.
However, ministers are being urged to speed up these plans amid the sight of two historic clubs teetering on the edge of disaster.
Lord Blunkett, former Cabinet minister and Labour MP in Sheffield, told PoliticsHome the government needed to announce secondary legislation as soon as Parliament returns from its summer recess in September to enforce the football regulator.
“Everyone who cares, not just about the future of an individual club, but the health and wellbeing of football, will want the earliest possible resolution of what is happening to my home side Sheffield Wednesday, and of course, to Morecombe," he told PoliticsHome.
“One signal, which would undoubtedly be a game-changer, would be for the Secretary of State Lisa Nandy to announce that the necessary secondary legislation will be laid in September, and the new regulator and governance framework will be implemented from November.”
The Labour peer added that this was not the “kind of timetable the traditional civil service is used to” but that it was “perfectly possible” under the circumstances if people are not “to stand by fiddling while Rome burns”.
Secondary legislation is used to set a date for when elements of an act of Parliament will come into effect – in this case, when the football regulator will be given its powers.
Clive Betts, Labour MP for Sheffield South East, agreed with Blunkett that this should be done as soon as Parliament returns.
“While we brought in the regulator, and we don’t want it to interfere on a regular basis, we want it to be an option to fall back on if an owner is intent on a club disappearing,” he said.
Bayo Alaba, Labour MP for Southend East and Rochford, told PoliticsHome: "Labour’s independent football regulator is more important now than ever. It is designed to stop exactly the kind of turmoil we are now seeing at Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe.
“Stakeholders, MPs and supporters alike all recognise that without the regulator, too many historic clubs are at risk of being lost. I look forward to Labour's independent football regulator delivering the protection, stability, and long-term vision our clubs and communities deserve.”
Lizzi Collinge, Labour MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said the ongoing plight of Morecambe showed why the country was in desperate need of a new football regulator.
"Under the new rules, I am certain that the current owner of The Shrimps would not have been allowed to buy the club,” she said.
Collinge added that knowing other football clubs with strong local roots will be protected in future gives her some comfort, but she was “desperately” sad that Morecambe is becoming the example of how necessary it is.
A Department for Culture, Media and Sport spokesperson said the ongoing challenges at Morecambe, Sheffield Wednesday and many other clubs show why the Football Governance Act is “so badly needed”.
They told PoliticsHome: "We are working to get the Independent Football Regulator up and running as soon as possible to prevent more clubs and fans facing similar issues in the future.
"We recognise the need to move as soon as is possible with secondary legislation and the implementation of this regulator is a priority, with some important milestones upcoming including the recruitment of a CEO and appointing the Regulator’s Board."
