Failure to implement a regulator would be ‘catastrophic’ warns Grimsby co-owner

THE Grimsby Town co-owner Jason Stockwood issued a stark warning to UK politicians that failure to implement a strong Independent Regulator for football would be “catastrophic” for the National Game.

The 52-year-old revealed his thoughts in an exclusive interview for Fair Game with the former Sky Sports and BBC presenter Graham Miller.

Stockwood explained: “It would be beyond disappointing – catastrophic – if it [the introduction of an independent regulator] doesn’t happen now.

“The only people who don’t want this to happen are half a dozen clubs with foreign ownership.

“What we need is to make sure that the financial flow from the Premier League is fair, which means more coming down. But as important is a need for there to be governance around where the money is spent, otherwise it will go straight out the door on things like players’ wages.

“So to put it simply: It’s flow of cash, and making sure the governance of financial sustainability is in place at the same time.

“The European Super League was a good metaphor for everything this is wrong in capitalism. You have absent owners focussed on their shareholders. And what came out of that was the Fair Game initiative.

He added: “Our involvement [in Grimsby Town] will be finite, but we want to leave the organisation in a better shape.

“So, when we met Niall [Couper, CEO of Fair Game] and the team, and we were invited to join – it was perfect. It was not only about fairness in society, it’s also about a correction of the financial sustainability around football.

“It means that for the next 100 years football clubs will continue to exist as important anchors for the identities and towns like Grimsby.”