Football Bill must create a ‘bad environment’ for bad owners, says former Shadow Sports Minister

THE Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights, Alison McGovern, has called on the Government to ensure that any new legislation honours the sport’s history, traditions and supporters – and makes life difficult for bad owners.

Her comments came in an exclusive wide-ranging interview with Fair Game broadcaster Matt Roberts.

The MP for Wirral South said: “Football has extra responsibility because we all belong to a football club, they are our identity, where you come from, where our history is – the people who love us and care for us.

“We need to make football a bad environment for those who don’t want to live up to that responsibility.”

McGovern, who was Shadow Sports Minister from April 2020 to December 2021, added: “We all know football is broken.

“[Having] financial sustainability at the heart of the regulator is really crucial. Everyone in the game should be operating on the same sustainability principles.

“[We need] a system of licensing, so you only can be a football club if you stick to certain rules. What are those rules?

“First is financial sustainability. Apply tests to what kind of person can own a football club. Are they a responsible person? Do their behaviours show they are responsible? And then we monitor that over time so that it is not just a tick when you buy a club which allows you do what you want afterwards. It has to be a constant thing.

“The second set of tests is how you operate as a club. You need a regulator than can lift up the bonnet of a football club look at what is going on in the engine, see what the financial flows look like and say yes that is a sustainable model or no that isn’t a sustainable model. And the regulator is the arbitrator saying yes you can operate or no you can’t.”