The Bolton Wanderers' Supporters Trust has welcomed today's announcement from the Government to formally support 10 key recommendations to change English football proposed by a fan-led review that promises major changes but has asked for a timetable for when action will be taken.
Tracey Crouch MP has worked with supporter groups to lay out a blueprint for the future of the game, including a focus on sustainability, distribution of wealth and a bid to stop rogue owners. The project followed an outcry over an attempted breakaway European Super League, demise of professional clubs Bury and Macclesfield Town and major struggles in recent years of others including Wanderers and Derby County.
The Government will now set out its full response this afternoon following a statement to the House of Commons by Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston. It will mean substantial change in the background to the operation of all clubs.
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Key strategies being endorsed include the introduction of a new independent regulator, ensuring that football is "sustainable and competitive for the benefit of existing and future fans and the local communities football clubs serve". Each club in National League and above will be required to hold a licence to operate and be subject to various conditions.
The regulator will also oversee finances and manage the amount that owners can inject into clubs based on "the size of a club's existing finances" or if it will "destabilise the long-term sustainability of the wider league".
Owners and potential owners will have to pass new tests "to ensure that only good custodians ... can run these vital assets". Prospective owners will have to submit a business plan for assessment to the regulator, including financial forecasts.
Supporters will be able to set up a 'shadow board' to be "properly consulted by their clubs in taking key decisions". Recommendations say clubs should "engage and consult on all material ‘non football/off pitch’ business and financial matters".
There will also be additional protection for key items of 'club heritage' such as the sale of a stadium, relocation outside a local area, joining a new competition that is not approved by Fifa, Uefa and the FA or leaving a competition in which it currently plays, the club badge, first team colours and club playing name.
The report also calls for fairer distribution of wealth, scrapping the FA's current formula for sharing revenue. This includes "a new compulsory clause to adjust players' salaries at a standard rate upwards on promotion or downwards on relegation" and 'a solidarity transfer levy" for Premier League clubs.
The Bolton Wanderers Supporters' Trust (BWFCST) has now responded to the move and believes it is a chance to reform the game and make it more sustainable and not see the demise of futher clubs.
But it has called for a timetable of when changes can be expected to be released and for not to delay as the call to keep pressure on for action to take place.
A statement read: "Today’s Government announcement now offers a real opportunity to save our national game.
"With huge cross-party political support, the argument for an independent regulator is now over. It is going to happen and forms the central pillar of the Fan-Led Review.
"Our recent series of FLR surveys recorded almost unanimous support from BWFCST members for the establishment of an independent regulator.
"However, what is needed now is a firm timetable for change. There should be no more delay.
"If reform is allowed to be kicked into the long grass, it will be a disaster for hard-working clubs at the heart of our towns and communities.
"Lack of effective regulation over many years has allowed situations to develop that have been nothing short of scandalous. Ask Bury, Macclesfield, Swindon, Charlton, Wigan, Derby and now Oldham fans for their views on the performance of the current football regulators, not to mention our previous ownership troubles.
"The ongoing financial situation at many clubs remains perilous. For too long the challenges in our national game have been effectively ignored by the football authorities and successive governments which has put many clubs on the edge of ruin.
"Legislation has the power to change football and protect our community clubs for generations to come. Let’s keep up the pressure for reform."
