Football does not need a state – sorry, independent – regulator

My pal who bought our hometown football team tells how he gave up in the end because the expectation of fans was too heavy, and because the local council thought the club was down to the rich man to finance. 

He found himself as the owner alright but pulled every which way. The ground was falling down but he could not persuade the councillors to help fund the cost – even though he said the council could use the facilities when not required for matches, that was not enough. Their attitude was that as a local boy done good, having made a fortune in telecoms in the US, he should pay for the lot. 

Then there were the fans. They were more interested in the performances on the pitch. All they cared about was winning and, in order to achieve that, they wanted him to spend heavily on star names. 

No matter that the club was near to financial ruin when he bought it, that he put in several millions to save it from going under. There is something about football that defies logic. The “beautiful game”, the “people’s game”, causes any semblance of normality and sense to be abandoned. 

The latest initiative is that football in England should have its own state regulator – sorry, “independent” regulator as the governing body rules proscribes against political bias so this will be a watchdog, the membership of which will be determined by a separate panel of experts. It’s the brainchild of a supporters-led review chaired by the MP Tracey Crouch. 

This will be the establishment of a referee able to examine a club’s funding and corporate governance. A “shadow board” of fans would be able to veto key decisions such as changing the club’s colours or selling the stadium. This state regulator by another name would apply a “fitness” test to prospective owners. It would enforce controls over club finances, ensuring a wealthy proprietor did not dip too deeply into their pockets to give an unfair advantage. There would be a stamp duty tax of 10 per cent levied on player transfers, with the money raised being pumped into the lower divisions. 

Already, just writing that lot down engenders a queasy feeling – this is going to be one state, sorry not state, regulator with a very onerous itinerary. When you think Crouch’s committee came up with more than 40 suggestions, you start to become positively nauseous. Usually, you could count on a government with the hue of this one to resist such a push – it was elected on a mandate of pushing back the state and surely that must include the creation of yet another authorising body? 

Let’s not forget, either that despite all the huff and puff and hyperbole surrounding football it is but one sport. If we’re not careful every pastime under the sun will be wanting its own watchdog. By now, the head is swimming as well. 

The excuse is that this is football and somehow different. As I say, the normal rules don’t apply. 

Three recent causes celebres have heightened the clamour for change. One was the insolvencies of Bury and Macclesfield. Cue anger and tears from the fans and from the areas they served – no matter that not sufficient numbers of locals attended their matches to keep them afloat. When they were afloat there was little interest; when they implode, everyone is a die-hard regular. 

In other industries, members are allowed to vanish. Not football. There, a club is forever – market forces that exist elsewhere do not appertain.

Another was the proposed European Super League or ESL. Again, no matter that the mooted venture died an instant death once politicians, media and yes, supporters, intervened to protest. One telling aspect of that sorry episode was that the putative ESL believed Boris Johnson had given his tacit approval to their idea. This would not be surprising since this is a Prime Minister who instinctively opposes interference, who believes in the freedom of the markets and is also not remotely interested in football (he cares about the game with the funny-shaped ball, the one where you can grab it with your hands and not let go and charge your opponents in the name of sport). Yet, because it is football, his usual preferences were abandoned. 

The third is the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United. Such was the uproar you could be forgiven for supposing that this was the first occasion an asset in Britain had fallen into Saudi hands. Not a bit of it – all manner of businesses and properties are owned by people and organisations that quickly route back to Riyadh and the Saudi government. Yet, when they were sold, there was barely a squeak. This is football, though, so the norm is irrelevant. 

Again, no matter that the previous owner was despised by the supporters and that the club was on the block for ages and attracted this one, serious offer. The groundswell says drop the sale and leave Newcastle languishing in the hands of someone the fans did not want and who was not prepared to invest the sums they believed the club needed and demanded. 

Among the suggestions put forward by the fans is for those attending matches to be allowed to drink alcohol in the stands as they watch the game. On other sports, notably rugby and cricket, this is the bane of the authorities’ lives – anyone going to watch England rugby at Twickenham or test cricket cannot fail to notice the drunken, loutish behaviour. One family have gone public with how, when they went to see England play rugby recently the person behind vomited over their six-year-old son. As ever, football sees itself differently. 

Much of the strength of the Premier League is down to its ability to attract the world’s best, most valuable players. The other leagues who form its competition, in Spain, Italy, France, Germany, will be delighted if the English one is subject to a 10 per cent levy on player transfers. Our European rivals will be the principal beneficiaries, not England’s lower divisions. 

What all this amounts to is a wish-list that looks good in theory but in practice will result in chaos, disputes and litigation galore. Fans and the game’s media and political cheerleaders might be applauding now but their handclaps will be replaced by dismay and frustration. Meanwhile, lawyers are rubbing their hands in expectation and not even football can produce another outcome where they’re concerned.