Football Governance Bill

[albie]

MPs have voted to back the Football Governance Bill and establish an independent regulator to oversee the men's game in England's top five divisions.

They voted by 415 to 98 to pass the bill at its third reading in the House of Commons, and it is now poised to become law.

The legislation will grant powers to a body that is independent from government and football authorities.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c62gd25ydzwo

Explainer on how it is supposed to work;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/football-governance-bill-2024-supporting-documents/fact-sheet-overview

[BobG]

Splendid. I hope it has both a wide remit, and, teeth.

BobG

[arkseyrover]

Sounds good. Long overdue. It's the kind of arrangement and protection that should be in place for cricket too.

[BobG]

Did you know that the FA's Charter, under which it supposed to operate, STILL says its responsibility is to look after the game at ALL levels for the benefit of everyone?

One of the worst management groups I have ever come across. I hope they are ashamed of themselves. They should be. The only comparable one I can think of is NPower. Truly chuffing woeful management there - as you can see given they hardly exist now.

BobG

[albie]

My concern is that it does not extend further into the pyramid.

The carry on at Farsley this last season shows that there are problems lower down.

[wilts rover]

Wonder why 98 MP's voted against it?

[ForsolongaRover]

Wonder why 98 MP's voted against it?

Because they were mainly Tories. Not a single one voted “Aye” which is predictable knowing how they favour the “haves”. And they were joined by the Reform Party who may not have quite caught up with the way of life of the real working classes. And the NI lot who seem to oppose everything.

[ravenrover]

Did they even know what football is?

[drfchound]

My concern is that it does not extend further into the pyramid.

The carry on at Farsley this last season shows that there are problems lower down.

Agreed.  Someone yesterday told me that Farsley are being resurrected.

[ForsolongaRover]

My concern is that it does not extend further into the pyramid.

The carry on at Farsley this last season shows that there are problems lower down.

Agreed.  Someone yesterday told me that Farsley are being resurrected.

I suppose that the exploitation of fan loyalty does generally lessen at the lower levels of the game.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Wonder why 98 MP's voted against it?

Because they were mainly Tories. Not a single one voted “Aye” which is predictable knowing how they favour the “haves”. And they were joined by the Reform Party who may not have quite caught up with the way of life of the real working classes. And the NI lot who seem to oppose everything.

Kemi's done a massive u-turn on  this. She was all for it when it was first announced.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Wonder why 98 MP's voted against it?

Premiership clubs have been spreading their largesse amongst sympathetic MPs because they don't want this to become law and thus to lose a big slice of their power.

[selby]

  Like the millionaires and Billionaires in industry the owners will just move to another country buy other clubs and the pyramid here will collapse.
   They are only here for what they can make out of it. It will be interesting

[Glyn_Wigley]

  Like the millionaires and Billionaires in industry the owners will just move to another country buy other clubs and the pyramid here will collapse.
   They are only here for what they can make out of it. It will be interesting

The pyramid here carried on just fine before the moneymen showed up and it'll carry on just fine after they take their money elsewhere.

[ChrisBx]

I'm sure it was the previous Tory government that initially introduced this bill only for it not to make it through parliament in time prior to the general election. Makes me wonder why they now oppose it; has it undergone major changes or is it just opposition for the sake of opposition?

[Glyn_Wigley]

I'm sure it was the previous Tory government that initially introduced this bill only for it not to make it through parliament in time prior to the general election. Makes me wonder why they now oppose it; has it undergone major changes or is it just opposition for the sake of opposition?

AFAIK it's exactly the same as when it was first proposed before the election as it broadly had cross=party approval and was meant to be a non-party/free vote issue.

[BobG]

Opportunity for la Badenoch to demonstrate leadership and control? I can't  think of any other reason if the Bill is unchanged from that introduced by the Conservatives. Interesting this.

BobG

[les@donr]

They don’t want Labour having the credit in passing the law.

[In the box]

MPs have voted to back the Football Governance Bill and establish an independent regulator to oversee the men's game in England's top five divisions.

They voted by 415 to 98 to pass the bill at its third reading in the House of Commons, and it is now poised to become law.

The legislation will grant powers to a body that is independent from government and football authorities.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c62gd25ydzwo

Explainer on how it is supposed to work;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/football-governance-bill-2024-supporting-documents/fact-sheet-overview

With the amount of foreign ownership this is long overdue. The direction of the game is being manipulated into a video game with introduction VAR . The influx of betting sponsorship related companies, you have to stop and think are we all been steered towards predetermined outcomes in games based on the armchair supporters betting patterns and actual supporters being merely witnesses and having no effect on results at all as VAR selects what needs to happen to get a payout….
Football Roulette.

[silent majority]

MPs have voted to back the Football Governance Bill and establish an independent regulator to oversee the men's game in England's top five divisions.

They voted by 415 to 98 to pass the bill at its third reading in the House of Commons, and it is now poised to become law.

The legislation will grant powers to a body that is independent from government and football authorities.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c62gd25ydzwo

Explainer on how it is supposed to work;
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/football-governance-bill-2024-supporting-documents/fact-sheet-overview

It's now law, as of today.

I'm immensely proud as an individual, as this campaign was started whilst I was Dep Chair of the FSF. The campaign took about 15 years to reach this point, not something that we undertook lightly. It's going to be a game-changer in lots of areas.

I'm also proud to say that we, the VSC, took the campaign to local politicians, in tandem with Gavin the club CEO, and we also took part in the evidence gathering that the panel, under Tracey Crouch, had set out to gather. Our contribution was based on Fan Engagement, and in particular IRWT that we started with the club some years ago. We spent time explaining the benefits that club and supporters can gain when applied honestly.

Its been a big, big day.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Congratulations S_M.

What are the top 3 things you think will change for the better?

[EasyforDennis]

Opportunity for la Badenoch to demonstrate leadership and control? I can't  think of any other reason if the Bill is unchanged from that introduced by the Conservatives. Interesting this.

BobG

Does Bad Enoch know anything about football? She is probably more into rah rah rugby.

[silent majority]

Congratulations S_M.

What are the top 3 things you think will change for the better?

The appointment of a regulator is obviously the key change, it stops the football world from marking its own homework. Not just that, but the choice of regulator as well. Martyn Henderson has been in place for a while and he's so very pro-supporter. He was originally appointed to run the SGSA and it was at that point that the Safe Standing campaign really came alive. He helped us get the whole thing over the line whereas previous incumbents had been difficult to talk to. I emailed his office this morning and asked for a meeting with him.

Coupled with the licensing requirements and clubs all having to meet certain criteria should make every club sustainable. That was the initial remit, but getting the EPL to get to the table may take some time. Financial considerations are paramount but will take time.

I also think having supporters at the forefront of a lot of decision making will be important, and the legislation is shaped to make sure that regulated fan organisations, like the VSC, have to be consulted. It won't be an option in future as the licensing rules include that as a requirement. Heritage is also beefed up and again it'll be a supporter based requirement.

[silent majority]

My concern is that it does not extend further into the pyramid.

The carry on at Farsley this last season shows that there are problems lower down.

It was designed to be extended into the pyramid if required. I think the cost of some of the requirements were off putting for those clubs.