Football in England is set for major regulatory oversight as the passing of the Football Governance Bill introduces the Independent Football Regulator.
English football teams will have to answer to a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR), after the government passed a new Football Governance Bill on July 8.
MPs in the House of Commons passed legislation voting 415 in favour of the Football Governance Bill, with 98 against. The legislation will now move to Royal Assent before it can become law.
In summary, the Football Governance Bill establishes an IFR which will grant independent powers away from the government and footballing authorities – the Football Association (FA), Premier League, English Football League (EFL) and National League.
The IFR will look to safeguard the stability and financial future of English football across the football pyramid, ensuring clubs do not fall into administration or collapse entirely again.
This follows a series of financial crises at English clubs, particularly in the lower leagues, with Bolton Wanderers and Macclesfield Town facing serious difficulties, and Bury FC being expelled from the football league due to severe financial mismanagement.
“This is for Macclesfield, for Wigan, for Bury, for Bolton, for Derby, for Reading, for Sheffield Wednesday, for Morecambe and for many, many more who have had to endure the misery of being put last when they should have been put first,” said Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
“I am proud to be part of the winning team that has put our fans back on the pitch at the heart of the game, where they belong. We are doing this for you because for too long, you have been treated as an afterthought at best or a nuisance at worst in a game that is only great because of you.”
Financial Future of Football Pyramid
One of the key responsibilities of the IDR will be overseeing how money is distributed across the English lower leagues, the EFL Championship, League One, League Two and the National League.
Under the new Bill, parachute payments – the three-year financial support given to relegated Premier League clubs – will remain in place. These payments will include broadcast and other relevant revenues as specified by the Secretary of State.
However, the IFR’s Expert Committee can only bring parachute payments within its regulator scope if it determines they are relevant to the financial sustainability of the football pyramid.
New conditions will also be introduced. Relegated clubs will only receive parachute payments if their future finances are deemed sufficiently protected, and these payments cannot be reduced within a year of distribution, allowing clubs to plan accordingly.
The IFR will also have the authority to terminate the parachute payments process if it finds the current distribution model is inconsistent with its objectives of long term sustainability and resilience. In such cases, the Premier League, EFL and National League would be required to restart negotiations and propose a new structure.
This aspect of the Football Governance Bill follows the March 2024 impasse between the Premier League and the EFL over a lower league support package, which highlighted the need for an independent regulator. With no agreement in place, intervention in the parachute payment model could be one of the IFRs first major actions – once the legislation receives royal assent.
More fan-focus approach
Football fans across England will now gain a formal voice in their clubs’ decision-making processes, including input on strategic matters such as ticket pricing. Under the new framework introduced by the Football Governance Bill, the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) will ensure clubs regularly consult with recognised supporters’ trusts or fan groups on key issues.
This includes decisions around potentially relocating a club’s stadium outside its local authority area, changing the club’s name, or altering the badge or primary colours, issues that deeply impact club identity and heritage.
During a House of Commons Committee Meeting on 7 July, Liberal Democrat MPs proposed giving supporters’ groups a formal ‘golden share’, granting them veto power over such fundamental changes. While the Bill does not explicitly enshrine this golden share by name, the legislation does outline mechanisms to ensure meaningful fan consultation and accountability.
The Bill also allows the IFR to intervene if it believes a club is selectively engaging with fans—such as handpicking individuals or groups to avoid proper scrutiny—rather than working with recognised supporter organisations.
Clubs that enter administration will face additional requirements around transparency. They must keep fans informed throughout the process, providing regular updates and demonstrating openness around any potential insolvency issues.
“These new, strengthened measures will ensure clubs engage meaningfully with fans and give them a greater voice,” a reading from the Bill stated.
Another major catalyst for the Bill was the European Super League saga in 2021, in which six Premier League clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur – attempted to break away from the football pyramid to form a separate elite competition.
The plan sparked widespread outrage and collapsed within a week amid intense fan protests, prompting deeper concerns over the financial governance of the game and the extent to which fans were being excluded from critical decisions.
No free Premier League games and alcohol ban remains
Despite the Football Governance Bill passing many of its proposals, the Lib Dem amendment proposal to air up to 10 Premier League’s free of charge was voted against.
Lib Dems sought the proposal to provide greater accessibility to England’s top-flight football league but with the Premier League set to start its new four-year, £6.7bn broadcast rights agreement with Sky Sports and TNT Sports this upcoming season, MPs believed the infrastructure was ‘balanced’.
“The government believes that the current list of events works well, and it strikes an appropriate balance between access to sporting events and allowing sports to maximise broadcasting revenue,” said Sports Minister, Stephanie Peacock.
“We all want to see more matches being televised, free-to-air, but that must be balanced against investment and not risk it.”
The proposal also looked to provide free-to-air live coverage of the Football League Cup Final, as well as the Championship, League One and League Two Play-off Finals.
With a surging amount of new sports broadcast suitors entering the market in recent years, primarily streaming services such as DAZN, Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, this has in turn significantly increased the valuations of sports broadcast rights.
This has led to consumer concern over the distribution of broadcast rights packages to several rights holders, requiring monthly/yearly subscription fees to watch live Premier League football and becoming overall more costly to watch the league.
In a bid to curb consumer unrest, the Premier League opted to agree a deal with Sky Sports and TNT Sports for its new broadcast rights deal, dropping previous partner Prime Video and a new commitment to show more live games per season.
The 2025/26 season will broadcast more live Premier League games than ever before, with Sky Sports showing 215 live games, while TNT Sports will show 52. In total, 267 games will be shown on live TV out of 380 fixtures.
Furthermore, MPs also rejected a proposal to remove the ban on alcohol from within the stands of English stadiums, deeming it “outside the scope of the Bill”.
“This is outside the scope of the Bill, which is focused on sustainability of clubs and game overall. I’ve raised the issue with the Home Office, as I committed to do during the Bill committee, as it is their policy lead,” added Peacock.
While the Bill moves towards Royal Assent, the IFR will lay out its legal framework and the establishment of its expert panel. The initial period will see a board currently run the organisation once the Act is in law.
