Football Governance Bill [HL]

Lord Grantchester Excerpts

Consideration of Commons amendments and / or reasons
Tuesday 15th July 2025 Lords Chamber

The backstop power is what the Bill is all about. It started as a rallying call against the breakaway European Super League and ended with the creation of an independent football regulator with backstop powers to intervene in financial distribution between the Premier League and the English Football League if they fail to agree on a deal. Sadly, the Bill has become all about money, not fans. Recourse to lawyers is inevitable, and I wish the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, and his colleagues well in that context. That said, the Government have worked in another place to improve the deficient backstop, for which they should be thanked. I echo the tributes paid to the Minister for her assiduous hard work on the Bill, which cannot have been easy at any stage.

[Lord Grantchester (Lab)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend the Minister and commend the excellent work of her officials in her department’s Bill team on the amendments returned from the Commons that clarify and tidy provisions in the Bill. I congratulate them especially on where the Bill has been strengthened; this version is much improved from the previous Government’s drafting. I declare an interest from my past experiences, involvement, responsibilities and connections with Everton Football Club.

While transparency has been improved by these amendments, I am grateful that the exaggerated perils claimed from the Opposition Benches have continued to be resisted. These proposals will bring a more amicable resolution of the backstop. I am confident that the Bill will prove effective in including parachute payments within the remit of the regulator, as, without their inclusion, the regulator’s ability to view the financial stability and resilience of the whole football pyramid would be substantially impaired.

These amendments will reduce the risk and uncertainty in the backstop mechanism. A light touch does not signify a lack of application in maintaining vigilance across the pyramid, especially down through the leagues, where the predominance of more maverick owners has tended to congregate. However, there are other features that must be mentioned. That the regulator is fully independent of government should reassure all fans, especially now that the regulator is no longer required to consider government policies on trade and international markets. Fans will expect a rigid level playing field between clubs to be scrupulously maintained and will be encouraged that fan representatives will be democratically endorsed independently from their clubs. Meaningful engagement of fans will ensure that the heritage provisions of the Bill will not be undermined.

I too welcome the appointment of David Kogan as the first football regulator. Although he is yet to take up his post officially, it is imperative that the work begins and that swift progress is made on the state of the game report—the next milestone in this legislation’s effectiveness. May I tempt my noble friend the Minister to confirm that David Kogan has already been able to identify his team and is already drawing up proposals to begin the necessary processes to start immediately on Royal Assent?

[Lord Moynihan of Chelsea (Con)]

My Lords, despite the very kind words of my noble friend the senior Lord Moynihan, and indeed of the noble Lord, Lord Goddard, I understand that we have to be careful in declaring our interests. I declare myself a season ticket holder of the Club World Cup champions of the world, whose games I have been attending since 1958—a time when many noble Lords were not even alive.

As we enter what we might call the final minutes of extra time on this Bill, it would certainly be churlish of me not to repeat the words of my noble friend Lord Maude about the Minister’s very careful and kind attention throughout this Bill, and the improvements that have been made as this Bill has come back from the Commons. But somebody must stand up and say that there is an opinion that can be heard in this House that a regulator is a really bad idea for this sector.

In saying that, I accept that it was our side, scoring, as you might say, an own goal, who started all of this. I hope that, if ever we come to power again, we have leaders who do not say, “There go the people, I must follow them”, but who think rather longer-term, not about how football fans respond to artfully constructed opinion polls but how football fans will react to the depredations of this regulator, however well-intended and good—and everybody on all sides has applauded the selection of the regulator—that will make this sector worse, and possibly very bad.

Why do we have this regulator? Because, as the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, mentioned, Bolton football club took some risks, went bust and got relegated. Is Bolton football club no longer? Has it now vanished? Oh, no, it is still around. For those who are not massively enamoured of or conversant with the world of business—it appears that most of the Cabinet is comprised of those who have never been involved in business—it may come as a surprise to know that this is how business works. You take risks and sometimes you go bust, then you get re-formed, as Bolton football club did, and you carry on, with the same fans and the same ground. They are in a lower division but can fight back and get re-elected to higher divisions.