Why English Football Needs a Regulator Now
Power has shifted too far from the pitch
Modern football in England is no longer grounded in its roots. What began as a working-class game shaped by local communities and sustained by tradition has been twisted into a money-driven industry dominated by private interests. Clubs are now commodities to be flipped, brands to be monetised, and chess pieces in international diplomacy. When the values of the supporters are buried beneath shareholder returns, something has to give.
The vote in Parliament to approve an independent football regulator may seem like a minor procedural step. In truth, it marks the most important intervention in the sport’s governance in generations. Not because regulation is a perfect fix, but because English football has proven it cannot fix itself.
Football has failed to police itself
Let’s call things as they are. The game’s governing bodies have either been unwilling or unable to address its most pressing problems. Clubs like Bury and Macclesfield were allowed to collapse under the weight of mismanagement. Others, like Wigan and Derby, came within touching distance of oblivion. In every case, oversight was absent, warnings were ignored, and the people left picking up the pieces were fans and communities.
The Premier League likes to present itself as a model of excellence. But it is, in essence, a private members' club run by the 20 wealthiest owners in the sport. These owners vote on rules that benefit themselves, defend the status quo with legal firepower, and cry foul when their actions attract scrutiny.
The much-heralded “fit and proper person” test has become a running joke. If you have money, you pass. Ethics are irrelevant. Human rights abuses, political entanglements, financial chicanery, all are brushed aside if the cheques clear. When one club can sell its own women’s team to its owners for an inflated fee just to work around the Profit and Sustainability Rules, you are not looking at financial strategy, you are looking at deliberate deception.
What you get, then, is an ecosystem where Manchester City can face more than a hundred alleged rule breaches yet carry on unaffected, using expensive legal tactics to delay any meaningful resolution. It is a system built not on fairness or integrity, but on power and wealth. And that is why the regulator is necessary. Because football’s existing structures are not just broken, they are unwilling to change.
Fans have been sidelined for long enough
It has been said again and again that fans are the lifeblood of the game. That sentiment has not matched reality. In truth, supporters have been locked out of the decisions that affect their clubs most. Ticket prices are driven up. Kick-off times are moved without consultation. Club identities are altered by distant owners. Away fans are treated as a nuisance. Local football coverage is stripped back. The voices of the people who care most are drowned out by boardrooms and broadcasters.
The passage of this bill is, at the very least, a recognition that fans deserve a stake in the future of their clubs. It is a statement that football clubs are not just businesses but cultural institutions. The regulator will have a legal duty to protect heritage and sustainability. That principle alone justifies its existence.
Some say this is too little, too late. But if you look at what has happened in the last decade, from the Super League farce to the casual ruin of lower league clubs, it is plain that waiting any longer would be a dereliction of duty. As one fan put it, the horse has not just bolted, it has galloped five towns over. At least now, there is an effort to build a stable worth returning to.
Those opposing it reveal what they fear
The loudest voices against the regulator come from those who benefit most from football’s current dysfunction. The executives at the top of the Premier League. The investors who want no interference in how they strip value from clubs. The politicians who previously blocked reform now warn of “reckless interference”.
What they really fear is transparency. Accountability. Rules that cannot be gamed with lawyers and lobbying. A level playing field where integrity matters more than influence.
Some of the resistance is framed around cost. But regulation is already part of every functioning sector in society. Water, energy, broadcasting, finance. Football, which holds unmatched cultural importance, has for too long been left out of that framework. Critics call the regulator a “quango”. They said the same about OFWAT and OFCOM. Yet those institutions exist because unregulated markets do not serve public interest. The idea that football alone should be exempt is indefensible.
It is also worth noting that the objections rarely come from fans. In fact, many supporters welcome the move precisely because they no longer trust club owners to act in good faith. The government cannot be trusted absolutely either, but fans are rightly more sceptical of billionaires hiding behind club crests than of public oversight.
What this regulator must be
This regulator will not solve everything. It will not make clubs immune to bad decisions or reckless spending. It will not stop powerful owners from exploiting loopholes if left unchecked. But it can enforce transparency. It can protect clubs from asset stripping. It can ensure proper financial oversight. It can give fans a voice where they have none.
To succeed, it must be independent. It must be staffed by people who understand the game, not just the business. It must not be captured by the very entities it is meant to oversee. Above all, it must be equipped with real enforcement power, not just warm words.
Football in England is too important to be left to private interests alone. If this bill becomes law, as expected, it will not mark the end of football’s problems. But it will, for the first time in a generation, give supporters a framework to fight for the integrity of their clubs. That is a start worth backing.