Football Governance Act becomes law in historic moment for English football

• Plan for Change in action, as government delivers on promise made to fans in the manifesto, addressing existential threats to clubs and putting supporters back at the heart of the game
• World-first Regulator will work to stop rogue owners, ensure clubs are financially sustainable, with powers to ensure money flows through the pyramid.

Football fans will now have a greater say in how their beloved clubs are run, as the Football Governance Act has today received Royal Assent and passed into law, in a landmark moment for the game.

As promised in this Government’s manifesto, the Act will create the Independent Football Regulator (IFR), which will mark the biggest reform to football governance in a generation – helping to protect clubs across the country.

The Act follows a long journey to law, which began following the attempted breakaway European Super League, and a series of high-profile cases of clubs facing financial ruin.

Over recent years fans from the likes of Bury, Macclesfield Town, Derby County, Reading and many others have been left to suffer the consequences of reckless mismanagement, excessive risk-taking and financial catastrophe at their club.

The new regime is designed to raise standards across the game, supporting the government’s Plan for Change by ensuring English football can continue to deliver huge economic benefits across the country.

It will improve financial sustainability, introducing a set of rules that improves the resilience across the top five men’s leagues, empowers fans and keeps clubs at the centre of their communities.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:

This is a proud and defining moment for English football.

As someone who has loved the game all my life, I know just how deeply it runs through our communities. It’s where memories are made, and generations come together.

Our landmark Football Governance Act delivers on the promise we made to fans. It will protect the clubs they cherish, and the vital role they play in our economy.

Through our Plan for Change, we are ushering in a stronger, fairer future for the game we all love.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy said:

Football clubs have been built and sustained by fans for generations, but too often they have had nowhere to turn when their clubs have faced crisis. Today that changes as this Act will give hope and assurance to people, with the Regulator working to protect clubs in towns and cities all over the country, where football clubs mean so much, to so many.

From Southend to Blackpool, Portsmouth to Wigan, these reforms have been driven by fans, for fans. I will be forever proud that this Government has delivered on its manifesto pledge to support them by reforming football’s governance, and I pay tribute to all those that have helped us deliver this historic moment for the nation’s game.

The Regulator’s new powers will include:

• Tough new financial regulation to improve resilience across the football pyramid to ensure clubs are sustainable for the long term
• Stronger, statutory Owners’ and Directors’ Tests to make sure club custodians are suitable and aren’t using illicit finances with powers to force rogue owners to sell up
• New standards for fan engagement in club decision-making
• Bars on clubs joining closed-shop competitions and breakaway leagues
• Backstop powers to ensure a fair financial distribution between leagues
• New statutory protections for key club heritage aspects like home shirt colours and club badges and stadium moves

The IFR will be launched later this year and will consult industry on its proposed rules, guidance and approach to licensing clubs before implementing the new regime. A transition team, the Shadow Football Regulator, was established in 2024 to lead this process and is already engaging widely with industry and fan groups. The process of appointing a senior leadership team is ongoing with the announcement of an Interim CEO and Board expected shortly.

Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) chief executive Kevin Miles said:

This is an historic moment for football in this country and we are very proud that the FSA was at the heart of change, helping to bring in laws which can help protect the clubs we love from the worst excesses of owners throughout the professional game.

We look forward to working with the regulator, as well as the FA and leagues it covers, to ensure that the supporter voice continues to be at the forefront of debate as fans are the beating heart of the game. Club owners can no longer mark their own homework.

Sarah Turner, Chair of Supporters Trust at Reading (STAR) said:

As Reading fans, we’ve seen the damage caused by rogue owners and welcome the independent regulator. When football clubs fail due to rogue ownership, it doesn’t just mean a team slides down the table. Jobs are lost, community projects are cut and businesses suffer – be that via unpaid suppliers or under-occupied pubs.

We know that football is a business, but it is a business unlike any other. There are fans, not customers, players are heroes, not assets, and in these fractured times we should be working doubly hard to protect industries that create unity, community and – very occasionally – unparalleled joy.

Kieran Maguire, Associate Professor in Football Finance at University of Liverpool said:

This legislation represents a vital step forward in protecting clubs from exploitation, ensuring they are run more responsibly, and giving supporters a greater voice in how their clubs are managed.

Introducing an independent football regulator is a necessary safeguard to ensure that clubs are not treated solely as assets, but as cultural cornerstones with deep local and national significance.

 

source: GOV