After years of hesitation, the British government announced on Thursday, February 23, its intention to create an independent regulator of English football. This new organization – which will probably not see the light of day for two years – will develop a licensing system that each professional club will have to obtain in order to operate.
The rest of European football, however, may be disappointed: the British government’s objective is not to limit the exponential inflation of the expenses of the richest clubs. On the contrary, the financial dominance of the Premier League is seen as a success storyand the proposals released Thursday are careful not to kill the golden goose.
Nevertheless, the executive is seeking to bring some order to English football, demanding more transparency from owners, making the voice of supporters more audible and organizing a better sharing of revenue between elite clubs and those in the lower divisions. The government also intends to block the possibility of creating closed championships, like the proposal for a European Super League aborted two years ago. “In this country, football is more than a sport, explains Stuart Andrew, the sports minister. It is part of our history, our heritage, our way of life. »
Revenue sharing
The first drift that the regulator – which will only regulate England, not Scotland or Wales and Northern Ireland – intends to avoid is the one that has plagued the lower divisions for years: the bankruptcy of badly managed by unscrupulous owners. Since 1992, 64 clubs have filed for bankruptcy. In 2020, the disappearance of Bury Football Club, a 125-year-old club, had, for example, been experienced as a tragedy by its supporters. Its owner had crushed it under the debts and had shown itself unable to honor the refundings of them. The regulator should, in principle, be able to monitor the finances of clubs, alert them to possible excesses – in the context of constant discussions with their management – and can impose limits on spending if necessary.
At the heart of some clubs’ financial problems is the question of revenue sharing between the Premier League – the twenty richest clubs – and the English Football League (EFL) – the three lower divisions. The two bodies are struggling to find common ground currently, the EFL claiming 25% of the revenues, when the Premier League offers only 15%. For now, the government “incites” to find a solution between them, but “the regulator will have the powers, as a last resort, to intervene and facilitate an agreement”says Andrew.
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