Zak Wagman: A Conservative case for an independent football regulator

Zak Wagman is a Conservative councillor on the London Borough of Harrow. He is also a Board Member of the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust.

In April 2021, Boris Johnson told my colleague Tim Payton from the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, along with supporter representatives from England’s other biggest clubs, that he would drop a “legislative bomb” to stop a European Super League – the richest clubs’ attempts to end English football forever.

Polling subsequently showed it to be the most popular policy he announced that year.

He also empowered a fan-led review by Dame Tracey Crouch and, two Conservative prime ministers later, the Government introduced a Football Governance Bill to create an independent regulator to protect our national game and give supporters from communities across England a greater say. No longer would fans need to rely on a last-ditch plea to the prime minister to protect their clubs.

When time ran out to pass the legislation, we committed to the idea in our manifesto. Consistent support for the football community was not just right, but reflected Conservative values. Therefore, it was surprising and disappointing when our leader announced we would no longer support the regulator. While policies should evolve, this one is still both the right and Conservative thing to do.

The Premier League is a great success story – that is why Boris Johnson was implored to save it. So why not leave it to run itself and free from regulation? Because we have to recognise that football’s great strength comes from its unique proposition that those who enjoy it are supporters and not just consumers.

Football is different. Clubs are community institutions and can’t be treated like ordinary businesses. Football clubs have a loyal customer base that they know they can forever rely on. If I shop at Tesco’s, but they start to let me down, or even fold, I will pop next door to Sainsbury’s without much hesitation.

But as an Arsenal fan, regardless of how the team performs, who plays for them, or how much tickets and kits cost, I will still support them and keep watching them.

Furthermore, whilst Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s are in direct competition for customers, suppliers and sites, football clubs rely on the wider football ecosystem, especially non-league, for their talent; the Premier League does not exist in isolation, but at the apex of a world-renowned football pyramid.

Football clubs are community assets and the pride of so many towns across the country. They provide far more to local communities than they take, and this is especially true for smaller clubs. Local businesses such as pubs and cafes benefit from regular fan custom, and suppliers of pies, supplies, and services in towns often rely on the local team for regular business.

And that is before you get to the tremendous social work that most clubs contribute such as providing warm hubs for the lonely, walking football for the elderly and education programmes.

Clubs are vital community lifelines and can’t be treated like ordinary businesses. Yet in recent years, too many have been allowed to fail because of a lack of regulation of who gets to own them. Bury, Macclesfield, Aldershot, and Chester all shut down because there were no protections from, or regulation of, their owners for the benefit of their communities. Portsmouth, Bolton, Wigan, and Wrexham all narrowly avoided similar fates.

Even after all of this, right now, we have Reading on the brink – because an unsuitable individual was permitted to own this important community asset. Football has proven it cannot regulate itself. Too many clubs have been put in jeopardy by custodians looking to make a name for themselves or a quick buck.

We have heard a lot of arguments (not from any supporter groups I would add) about why the regulator is not needed, but almost all of them are either untrue or obscuring the truth.

We are told that it will be a waste of money. This is simply untrue: it will be paid for by a levy from the clubs, with most Premier League clubs paying about £600,000 a year. That’s a month of a midfielder’s pay; a small price to pay to protect local communities.

We have heard that it will clip the wings of the Premier League. This is also fundamentally untrue (and an argument put forward solely by the very same people who tried to kill the Premier League in 2021).

The regulator has limited powers and will only intervene directly, for the community’s benefit, to stop an unscrupulous owner from playing fast-and-loose with a club, or to facilitate the Premier League’s settlement with the lower divisions, which is entirely necessary for the benefit of the wider game and towns across the country.

At its core, Conservatism is about empowering local communities to thrive. Football clubs are instrumental to this for scores of towns across England, giving them a proud identity, uniting the community and benefitting their area socially, culturally, and financially. Regulation must only exist as a safety net to protect consumers and support businesses, but football is at the point where this is now essential. Communities across the country need a regulator to protect their clubs.

So, it is entirely in line with Conservative principles to give fans a greater say in how their clubs are run. We want parents to have a say in their children’s education and voters more say in how local services are delivered because we recognise that they know best. Football will be strengthened by giving a genuine voice to fans through democratically-elected supporter trusts.

We have a chance now, as a Party, to show constructive opposition. There is no doubt that regulation under this Government will be mission-creep; it will start with a limited remit but, as is the way with qangos, it will seek to expand its sphere of influence.

There are serious problems in our game, from the exploitation of academy players by agents, through the inexplicable decision to scrap Cup replays, to the standard of refereeing (they’re all biased against Arsenal!), that need serious resolution but are definitively for the game to sort out, and not the regulator.

As Conservatives we should hold the Government’s feet to the fire on this, ensuring that regulation is as light-touch as possible, focused on doing a few key things well.

But by rejecting the idea outright, we absolve ourselves of any serious contribution to the debate now and for years to come as the regulator establishes itself. We also risk alienating the millions across the country who love their clubs. The answer to worrying about mission-creep is not to reject the regulator, but to engage properly, advocate for its role in protecting community institutions and ensure that it sticks to its lane.

Whether we like it or not, the legislation will pass and be implemented and the independent football regulator will begin regulating English clubs.

We now have a chance now to stand up for local communities and protect their identities, to robustly ensure that the regulator exists to deliver against its mission as Crouch wrote it: to protect important cultural, community assets. That is something Conservatives should get behind.