The demise of Bury should be the turning point for football regulation across all levels in the country.
On Monday (September 2) The Football Supporters’ Association met with the Alliance Committee – the National League, Northern Premier League, Southern League and Isthmian League - to put forward proposals on how to protect football clubs.
The FSA’s proposals – which they believe should apply to all levels of football including Steps 1-4 in Non-League – have two key principles: the community significance of football clubs and avoiding conflicts of interest in regulation.
The FSA believes The Football Association should be the overall regulatory body following the failure of clubs self-regulating under their respective leagues.
It would eradicate conflicts of interest in the way that rules and regulations are set and administered by the leagues, and especially where some of the decisions on the conduct of owners and directors of clubs are taken by the owners and directors of other clubs.
“We will be emphasising the need for reform of the regulations around ownership of clubs because we want to protect clubs and protect football’s assets from speculators and chancers coming into the game,” Andy Walsh of the FSA told The NLP in the wake of Bury’s expulsion from the EFL.
“Football clubs in this country still represent the biggest expression of community identity of any organisation in towns and cities up and down the land.
“Some football clubs sit on very healthy assets, pieces of land that their ground has been built on and have been in the club’s ownership for generations. That is quite an attraction to some speculators. Those assets deserve some protection. The FA can provide that. The FA would deter speculators and chancers from taking over our football clubs.
“You can’t expect clubs to regulate themselves. You need some independence in the regulation. We believe the most appropriate regulator is The FA.
“The leagues are privately owned entities owned by the football clubs themselves and they are going to be less likely to vote for stronger regulation.
“Self-regulation in the EFL has been shown to have failed and it’s now time for The FA to step in and apply that regulatory structure.
“If The FA doesn’t step in then it should be government because football clubs are not just like any other businesses, they are cultural and community assets in their local towns and cities and therefore they deserve a greater level of protection.”
The FSA are also calling for the Owners’ and Directors’ Test to be strengthened with a more stringent process put in place.
“The provisions within the Owners’ and Directors’ Test we believe to be inadequate,” said Walsh, referencing the ownership of Steve Dale at Bury and Bolton’s Ken Anderson. “Those tests clearly need to be strengthened.
“We also believe there should be greater scrutiny of spending at football clubs to ensure they are being run in a sustainable manner.
“Stewart Day, who owned Bury before he sold to Steve Dale, racked up millions of pounds worth of debts incurred because of overspending. No action was taken by the Football League or The FA.
“There needs to be a review of the finances in the game. We would argue there needs to be a fairer distribution of wealth but that should be done within a regulatory framework because we equally do not want to see owners such as the Oystons, who took advantage of their stewardship of Blackpool to enrich themselves. One thing is for certain, we cannot stand still.”

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