Football Governance Bill [Lords]

Debate between Tom Morrison and Nusrat Ghani

2nd reading
Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Clive Jones]

Terms for the sale of Reading football club have been agreed, but we are currently waiting for Dai Yongge’s signature for a deal to go through. Sadly, we have been here before. His ownership has been a Shakespearean tragedy. He has attempted to asset-strip the club, bleeding it dry and holding it back from success. Does my hon. Friend agree that Dai must sell and allow Reading football club to enter a new era?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

Order. Before the hon. Member for Cheadle responds, let me say that if interventions are long, even fewer colleagues will be able to get in. Interventions should be short. They should not be speeches.

[Mr Morrison]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, which is absolutely key. We have a history in this country of poor owners taking our clubs for granted, and it is the fans who pay.

There are things in the Bill that I would like us to consider further. I would like to see more detail and focus on how football governance can support the wider football pyramid outside the football leagues. I mentioned Cheadle Town Stingers at the beginning of my comments. Cheadle Town is a wonderful example of a community-run football club that champions excellence, not only on the field but off it. The club sits in the heart of Cheadle and plays an active role in its community, providing support for local food banks and coaching for local schools. It is also, in my view, an exemplar of how both the men’s and women’s game should be championed in this country. There is a true “one club” mentality in Cheadle Town, where the successes of both teams are worked for and celebrated equally, exactly as they should be. This is a true community club, and everything that the Football Governance Bill needs to protect.

The campaign organisation Fair Game puts it best:

“Addressing the deeply flawed financial flow in the game could see extra money flooding into the towns and cities that have lower league football clubs.”

We all know that the Premier League receives the lion’s share of the market revenue. In 2023, just 25 clubs received a massive 92% of the revenues across the English game, while the other 67 clubs in the football leagues received just 8%. This disparity is completely eye-watering, but it does not even begin to take into account the clubs further below. These are the clubs that are at real risk. They have to fundraise and save to make sure they can put the floodlights on. Many non-league clubs are now struggling with the rise in energy prices, which have quadrupled in the last few years, while others have had to sparingly cut the grass on their pitches to save further costs. Facilities are also a key issue. Across Cheadle, there are just three full-sized 3G pitches, which are shared between 40 different teams, while of the 18 grass pitches in Stockport, five have no changing facilities at all, which has a disproportionate impact on women’s teams and disability teams.

The issues in our game are not just impacting the premier and football leagues; they are having a massive and sometimes fatal impact on our grassroots game. Although the Football Governance Bill starts to mitigate these issues, it does very little to encourage clubs, particularly the larger premier league clubs, to support the very lower tiers of the football pyramid. I would like to see that changed as the Bill progresses and more thought given to how our grassroots game can be supported. Football is about community and often represents what is best about community spirit, so supporting the game at its very base needs to be more of a priority. This Bill is a step forward for football in this country and should be welcomed, but there is more to do. I hope the Government will take that on board and introduce a regulator that not only protects this wonderful game but promotes it at the community, grassroots level.

Finally, if I may crave your indulgence for 10 more seconds, Madam Deputy Speaker, allow me to channel that seven-year-old who was obsessed with the likes of John Barnes, Jan Mølby and Ian Rush, and say this: Arne Slot, Big Virg and Mo, thanks for bringing home No. 20.