I am proud to represent Watford, and proud to have Watford FC as our local club. The organisation is a fantastic benefit to our area, and a great ambassador for our town.
Football is part of our town’s heritage, so I am pleased to see the developments taken today safeguard its future.
The success of English football is an achievement that should be celebrated. Our clubs have been great generators of tourism, jobs, and local pride. The Premier League is often looked at as the international standard for topflight football and attracts more viewers and revenue than any of its international rivals.
We, however, have all seen the litany of issues that have plagued the footballing world of late. Poor governance and lacklustre industry self-regulation have left many clubs endangered, with growing numbers of organisations across the top five tiers at risk of financial failure.
Other challenges have threatened to derail the sport – the efforts to create a breakaway ‘Super League’ tarnished the reputations of, and trust in, many clubs.
It is clear that greater protection of the grassroots core of the sport is needed, and following the fan-lead review, the government is setting out measures to ensure this. For the first time, a new independent Regulator for the men’s elite game will be established in law to oversee the financial sustainability of the game and put fans and local football communities back at the heart of how football is run.
This Regulator will set out, and operate, a licencing system to ensure that all clubs operating professionally are licenced, and therefore meeting the relevant requirements for appropriate financial resources, management, conduct and fan engagement.
As part of this system, the regulator will properly scrutinise the ownership, management and wider corporate governance of professional clubs, ensuring that any changes to these are in the best interests of the club as a whole.
The regulator will also importantly put fans at the heart of football. This will include implementing minimum standards for fan engagement, reinforced protection of club heritage, and fan consultation and approval for any sales or relocations of the club. It will also ensure that clubs are only able to compete in approved competitions, preventing future ‘super-league’ attempts.
