Bolstered football watchdog Bill to return to Parliament

Ministers are to introduce bolstered plans for a new football watchdog to Parliament.

A strengthened Football Governance Bill will aim to ensure a new football regulator is fully independent of Government and industry, and will give fans a greater voice in the management of their clubs.

But removing the need to comply with UK foreign and trade policy from the watchdog’s scope risks looking like a climbdown by Sir Keir Starmer’s ministers, after Uefa warned the move could lead the UK to be barred from hosting Euro 2028.

In the King’s Speech, the new Government said it would revive the Bill, first helmed by the previous Conservative administration.

It will be reintroduced to Parliament on Thursday, where it will undergo scrutiny in the House of Lords before progressing to the Commons.

Ahead of the Bill’s introduction, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said football is one of England’s “greatest exports” which the Government “wants to see thrive for generations to come”.

She added: “But for too long, financial instability has meant loyal fans and whole communities have risked losing their cherished clubs as a result of mismanagement and reckless spending.

“This Bill seeks to properly redress the balance, putting fans back at the heart of the game, taking on rogue owners and, crucially, helping to put clubs up and down the country on a sound financial footing.”

A fan-led review into the game, spearheaded by Tory former minister Dame Tracey Crouch, was completed in late 2021.

This followed long-standing worries about the financial management of smaller clubs, concerns that grassroots teams do not receive enough of the cash circulating in UK football, and uproar about the now-abandoned plans for a European Super League of major clubs.

Ministers in the previous government gave their backing to all of the review’s major recommendations, but the Bill aimed at setting up a watchdog fell when the general election was called.

The new football regulator introduced under Labour’s version of the Bill would be able to require clubs to provide “effective engagement” with fans on ticket price changes.

The watchdog would also be able to compel clubs to engage with fan groups in a more democratic manner.

And it would no longer have to consider the Government’s trade policy when assessing club takeovers by foreign owners, in a bid to ensure it is truly independent of both ministers and the industry.

Uefa previously wrote to Ms Nandy warning government “intereference” could lead to the UK being barred from hosting the Euros.

Following the warning, Sir Keir insisted the new regulator would not impact on Britain’s ability to host the tournament.