Merseyside MPs call on Liverpool and Everton to back reform of football
“We need to start championing financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards and fan engagement. And there is a huge role Liverpool and Everton can play in shaping that new future for football. A fairer future.”
Niall Couper, CEO, Fair Game
FOUR of Liverpool’s five MPs, and a further six from across Merseyside, today joined together to call on the city’s two main football teams to back urgently needed reforms of football’s governance – just days before the Government reveals its own plans for our National Game.
The call is contained in a letter sent to the Liverpool Echo and signed by Kim Johnson MP (Riverside), Dan Carden MP (Walton), Paula Barker MP (Wavertree), and Ian Byrne MP (West Derby) from Liverpool; and Marie Rimmer MP (St Helens South), Conor McGinn MP (St Helens North), Bill Esterson MP (Sefton Central), Peter Dowd MP (Bootle), Mick Whitley MP (Birkenhead) and Derek Twigg MP (Halton).
The 10 give their full support for the findings of the recent Fan-Led Review of Football Governance – which champions financial sustainability, good governance, fan engagement and equality standards.
The letter was organised by Fair Game, a group of 33 football clubs campaigning to deliver realistic long-term solutions to our National Game.
The letter asks Liverpool and Everton to support Fair Game and the findings of the Review and “preserve our footballing institutions for generations to come”.
It reads: “We are calling on Liverpool and Everton Football Clubs to join us in supporting both the Fan-Led Review and the introduction of Fair Game’s Sustainability Index, which scores all professional clubs on how well they perform on five measures: financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards, community engagement and fan engagement.
“This will incentivise clubs to be well run, encourage them to become embedded in their community and financially viable for the long term, leading to a more prosperous game for fans and clubs alike.”
The proposals are already backed by Fair Game club Tranmere Rovers, but the 10 called on Liverpool and Everton to join Tranmere in publicly supporting the Fan-Led Review, the Sustainability Index, and join Fair Game.
The letter continued: “The introduction of the Sustainability Index promoted by Fair Game clubs like Tranmere Rovers would be the best way to combine good governance with effective financial balance.”
Liverpool topped the first edition of the Sustainability Index. Everton finished sixth. The Sustainability Index, released by Fair Game last week, is the culmination of 18 months of expert-led work by the organisation. The Sustainability Index offers a simple metric an Independent Regulator could use to fairly redistribute funds throughout the football pyramid.
The MPs called the Merseyside rivals “a symbol of pride for the city of Liverpool and the wider region” and described their influence as a potential “game changer for a Fairer Game”.
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, said: “Football is at a crossroads. Since the turn of the century a third of English clubs have gone into administration. The pandemic left several clubs on their knees, and the cost-of-living crisis threatens to be the knock-out blow.
“We need to start championing financial sustainability, good governance, equality standards and fan engagement. And there is a huge role Liverpool and Everton can play in shaping that new future for football. A fairer future.”
