Draft Football Governance Act 2025 (Specified Competitions) Regulations 2025

Ian Murray Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 General Committees

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the Draft Football Governance Act 2025 (Specified Competitions) Regulations 2025.

It is a great pleasure to serve with you as referee this afternoon, Ms Lewell. I am pleased to speak to the regulations, which were laid before the House on 13 October. This Committee is scheduled for 90 minutes, but I am hopeful that we will take only till half time, if not before—I might get an early bath. The puns probably will not stop there. Given the tight scope of the regulations, there is time for me to mention only one football club, which is Heart of Midlothian, who are currently eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League thanks to a 3-1 win over Celtic on Sunday. That will keep everyone in Edinburgh—or certainly the bigger half of it—happy.

Back in July, the Government delivered on our election pledge to set up an Independent Football Regulator through the passing of the Football Governance Act 2025. The regulator is designed to protect football clubs in England only, to empower fans and to keep clubs at the heart of their communities. The regulator is the first of its kind and reflects the important and special place of football in our society and every single one of our communities. It will provide the certainty and sustainability required to drive future investment and growth so that English football continues to be the global success that it is.

We did not specify in the Act the clubs and competitions that will be within the scope of the regulator. This is in line with how other sports legislation works and will ensure that the regulator is able to react to any changes in the structure of the football pyramid in a timely manner. That is a really important point for the Committee to consider. For example, without the regulations the regime could not readily adapt to the restructuring or renaming of leagues, as in 1992 when the First Division became the Premier League, or in 2015 when the Football Conference was renamed the National League—that is the fifth tier of English football. That decision was made in the Act because, as we know, it is quicker and easier to amend legislation through delegated powers than through primary legislation.

During the Bill’s passage, there was much discussion about the scope of the regulator, across both Houses. The competitions within scope of the legislation are the same as Tracey Crouch’s 2021 fan-led review and the scope proposed by the previous Government in 2024— I draw the shadow Minister’s attention to that. The statutory instrument sets out the scope of the regulator as the Premier League competition, organised and administered by the Football Association Premier League; the Championship, League One and League Two competitions, organised and administered by the English Football League; and the Premier Division of the National League competition, organised and administered by the National League. The scope is based on years of work, evidence and consultation, including in the independent fan-led review. I thank everyone who corresponded with the previous Government on that review and, of course, Tracey Crouch for taking it forward.

The issues that concern the regulator, such as financial mismanagement, unsuitable owners and the distribution of revenue among leagues, are most prevalent and stark in the top five professional leagues of English men’s football. We do not believe that extending the scope beyond the top five tiers would be proportionate, and the burdens on smaller clubs would outweigh the benefits of the regulations.

On the possibility of the women’s game being within the scope of the regulator, Karen Carney led an independent review of domestic women’s football that was published in July 2023. Her review recommended that the women’s game should be given the opportunity to self-regulate rather than moving immediately to statutory regulation. The Government support that recommendation. The systemic financial issues that led to the creation of the legislation for the men’s game are not mirrored in the women’s game, which is at a different stage of development and growth, and we do not feel it is necessary to include it within the scope at this stage.

However, the Government acknowledge that the circumstances may change, which is why the review of the Act, to be conducted within five years of the commencement of the licensing regime, will look again at the scope to include women’s football if necessary. The Secretary of State can carry out an assessment of the regulator’s scope, and would consult the regulator itself, the Football Association and other stakeholders as appropriate.

This statutory instrument is another important step in the overall set-up and commencement of the Independent Football Regulator. For too long, football clubs have been mismanaged, been run by unsuitable owners, and not listened to fans. The Government are changing that today.

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[Ian Murray]

I will start where my hon. Friend finished. The whole point of the Football Regulator and this statutory instrument is to give power back to the fans, for the very specific reasons that he talks about at Sheffield Wednesday. We could all reel off a dozen clubs that have fallen into problems because of ownership in recent history, including Bury, Derby, Bolton, Morecambe and Blackpool. A whole host of clubs have fallen into problems because of the way they were run.

Football is a magnet for people who want to invest their money, but it has also become a magnet for people who think they can make some money out of it. Indeed, for many, it is an ego trip. I would maybe even argue that in the case of my own Heart of Midlothian football club, it was a money laundering exercise for the Russian oligarch who held it before. The common thread is that it is the fans who pay the price. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup, said exactly the same thing in talking about how our football clubs are at the heart of our communities.

Before the club went into administration, many Sheffield Wednesday fans would have been completely bereft at the thought of a Saturday afternoon coming along when they would not have to commiserate with each other that Sheffield Wednesday had lost again, at not being able to celebrate the highs as well as the lows, and at having their lives without Sheffield Wednesday. Any football fan will completely appreciate that the fans are the lifeblood of the game. It is famously said that the game is nothing without the fans.

The principle behind the Football Regulator—a principle that the shadow Minister used to share—is that football is for the fans, and the fans have in some circumstances have been taken for granted, as we have just heard. That is the whole point of this draft statutory instrument. It is defined in scope, but I am glad, Ms Lewell, that you allowed my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East to make those points slightly wider than scope, because it shows that this is needed in football. Having the Premier League, the Championship, League One and League Two, and the National League as the feeder league into the top four leagues, as part of that is important. They are all covered.

I appreciate—the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup mentioned this, I am sure in the spirit of the game—that this will burden some smaller clubs in the National League with additional responsibilities when they should be running the football club, training the kids and making sure they can have the Harry Kanes of the future—whoever that is. The bottom line, however, is that the National League is feeding the major leagues, and it needs to be part of this to make sure that those clubs are properly run and properly resourced, because it is about sustainability. A sustainable pyramid makes the whole pyramid much stronger.

The hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup asked if there would be a review. There will be—a review is written into the Act, on the face of the primary legislation. On three up, three down, that is a matter for the footballing authorities and the game itself to resolve, but the strength of the three up, three down argument could be enhanced by having a structure in the National League to mean that the clubs have fit and proper owners, are properly run and are in compliance with the Football Regulator. The regime is very much a light-touch one, and it is important to see that through the lens of not just new owners, but existing owners, looking at football as a whole in those top five leagues in England.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned the issues around the chair of the new Football Regulator. I was delighted that the chair was endorsed by the cross-party Culture, Media and Sport Committee. It was really important that that was done. Now the regulator can get on with doing the work, as things have been going on for too long.

I am not sure where the Opposition were coming from, because the Act is in essence their legislation. We made a few tweaks to it along the way, and the other place made a few more, and attempted some major tweaks. It is stuff that the shadow Minister used to agree with. In fact, his party made arguments in the past about how important the Football Governance Act would be for football and for sustainability in football, putting the power back in the supporters’ hands where it should lie. Now they say they are not keen on it and that it will jeopardise football: I am not sure what their angle is. Fans across the country will wonder why the previous Government, who introduced this regime through the Tracey Crouch review, are now standing wholeheartedly against it.

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[The Chair]

Order. I have allowed some kickabout in the debate, but can we please stick to the legislation before us?

[Ian Murray]

I will take your guidance, Ms Lewell. In response to the intervention of my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East, I will say that when the Opposition lose the argument, they do not take the ball, they take the man. I think that that is what we are seeing.

[Mr French]

A strange dynamic is going on here: we seem to be pretending that the Secretary of State and the chairman of the new Football Regulator are not under investigation. That is what is happening. That is not my investigation; that is an investigation that is taking place. That brings the whole regulator into question, and its independence. That is the point.

[The Chair]

Order. The hon. Member is aware that that is not in the scope of the draft statutory instrument before us.

[Ian Murray]

The chairman of the new regulator declared his donations before the said CMS Committee, which endorsed his chairmanship.

Implementing this regime to help to protect clubs in financial peril and putting the interests of fans up and down the country first is a priority for this Government. It was a priority for the previous Government as well, and it has been lost. That is why work is under way to deliver the next phase of the Independent Football Regulator regime as quickly as possible. Defining the exact scope of the Independent Football Regulator is a key step in delivering that.

The IFR will need time to get fully up and running. The newly appointed CEO, chair and board members need to build up the staff, continue to consult the industry, work with fans and football clubs and understand the new requirements. The regulator will have heard the shadow Minister’s comments about the burdens on smaller clubs from the National League, and I hope it takes that on board. I am sure that there will be support for that to happen. This Government look forward to working with parliamentary colleagues to deliver the remaining secondary legislation required to enact the Independent Football Regulator’s key powers later this year.

In conclusion, people who support football clubs that are not a global product, whether they are in Wales, Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, or just go along to their local school pitch on a Saturday morning to watch their eight-year-old kick a ball around, are the lifeblood of football. This is about making sure that the game is sustainable. Let us never, ever have a situation where Government stand on the opposite side of the road while great clubs like Sheffield Wednesday, which are the lifeblood of our communities, go to the wall.

Question put.