Pressure mounts on Government over football reform delays which have already cost Mansfield Town £1.8m

Having promised to publish its proposals before last year's World Cup and then by this week, the Government has now announced a further delay which is costing even more for clubs lower down the pyramid.

Labour's Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Powell weighed in on the issue this week to increase pressure and told Chad: “It is a huge amount of money and our main issue is really over the constant dithering and delay we have seen from the Government over football reform.

“We are now expecting a White Paper. It was due on Wednesday but we are now looking at another week or two delay.

“The review was published over a year ago and all parties agreed with the report. We didn't need another White Paper. We could have moved straight from that to legislation, which is what the Government initially said it would do.

“Now we have lost another year or more and will be waiting another 18 months to two years for it to actually become legislation - and all the while the financial stability of the football pyramid is at risk.

“During that time the Government have had cold feet as well, so a few months ago it felt like it was off the table which really let the Premier League in particular off the hook in terms of getting round the table to have these financial conversations.

“There was quite a long period of time in the second half of last year when it felt like it was completely off the agenda. So there was no real incentive for the Premier League to get round the table with the EFL, the FA and other footballing bodies.”

Analysis by Labour and the EFL has worked out that the lack of action from the Government and the Premier League means lower league clubs will miss out on £365m this season, and clubs in the North and Midlands have already lost out on £200m.

This means Stags miss out on £1.8m, as the Premier League and EFL have failed to come to an agreement on financial distribution across the pyramid.

A new report from Onward found that just 25 clubs (20 in the Premier League, plus five in receipt of parachute payments in the EFL) get 92 per cent of the distributable revenues of the English game (£3 billion), while the other 67 professional clubs receive just eight per cent.

Meanwhile, over half of EFL clubs are technically insolvent, relying on owner investment to pay day-to-day bills.

Stags are lucky in that they have their own local benefactors, being owned by the Radford family, who have kept them alive and now thriving.

But Powell warned: “Football clubs matter so much more than just their market and commercial assets. Somewhere like Mansfield, it brings the whole town together and is a really important part of the town's identity, history and heritage.

“Fans and communities should have more say on issues like grounds and heritage assets. Clubs are more than just a business that could go bust, which unfortunately we have seen in too many instances recently.

“Football at any level relies very much on philanthropic giving really.

“For a sport that has revenues of billions of pounds a year coming in, that should not be the case.

“It is not sustainable if you are a club having to spend way above your means in order to stay competitive or stay alive – it is just not sustainable for the whole of football.

“Mansfield are lucky at the moment – and long may that ownership continue.

“But their fortunes may change or something may happen to change things and the future of a football club like Mansfield should not really just depend on the goodwill of one local family who happen to have done well for themselves and happen to be really good people.

“For a club like Mansfield Town it's not just about the size of the piece of cake being shared – it's the way it's shared. A large proportion of current funds are paid out in parachute payments.

“So it could be a lot more beneficial to a lot of the lower league clubs than it is at the moment. That is why the figure is so big for a club like Mansfield Town.”

Among the other points in the fan-led review, is the demand for the Government to appoint a new independent regulator who would oversee the sport's financial regulation and establish new, stringent tests on potential owners.

It also said fans should be consulted on all key off-field decisions through a 'shadow board' and key items of club heritage should be protected by a 'golden share' for fans.

“There is concern the Government are going to water down some of the recommendations,” she said.

“But one proposal is having a shadow fans' board where you have to agree things around the club's heritage - where the club play, club colours and how things operate.

“There is also the idea of a 'golden share' where some of those big decisions have to have the agreements of a fans group in order to go forward.

“I think it is a good model that would work in the traditions of our English game.

“One thing we have been calling for is the football authorities to come together and have a new settlement for the financing of the pyramid. But those conversations have only just started and will take some time yet.

“So we want an independent regulator having backstop powers where if the footballing authorities can't agree on a financial settlement across the pyramid, then the regulator could step in and arbitrate or, in extremis, would actually decide the outcome of that settlement.”

She added: “I think it is in the interests of the Premier League to come to a quick and fair resolution when it comes to football financing or they will find things imposed on them they don't want.

“It would be better for the footballing bodies to resolve this between them rather than a regulator having to do it. But that's not what we're seeing. We are just seeing chaos and delay in the Government. That has been a factor – lots of revolving doors of ministers.

“I don't think having a football regulator sits totally comfortably with a lot of the Conservative party. But self-regulation is something that has failed over decades now.”

As a fan, Powell has personally felt the pain of football's financial chaos this week as Manchester City face up to charges of over 100 breaches of financial rules.

“I am a City fan at completely the other end of the spectrum and their current situation tells us why we need a football regulator,” she aid.

“These issues need to be independently scrutinised from other clubs' points of view.

“From City's point of views these accusations have been hanging round for years and never dealt with properly.”

Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough said: “I am not surprised it's been delayed again. But the review has to come about.

“I don't understand why they have invested a lot of money into looking into everything and then shelve it. I really don't see the point.

“What is going to change in 12 months time apart from they have kept the money for 12 months?”

A Mansfield Town FC club statement said: “Since the publication of the Fan Led Review, the EFL has been engaged in discussions with the Government on these issues for many months, as have clubs who have had regular dialogue with local MPs.

“To convey our collective position to Parliamentarians about the need for reforms in the game, earlier this month, the EFL held a series of regional meetings in Parliament at which clubs were invited to attend along with their local MPs.

“In total, more than 50 MPs and peers from all the major political parties attended with many more indicating their support for reform of the game’s financial and regulatory model.

“To date, the EFL is the only one of the three football authorities to have supported the Fan Led Review’s key recommendations and welcomed the Government’s response published in April 2022.

“An overriding objective of the EFL is to ensure the financial sustainability of football clubs throughout a thriving and competitive pyramid that will enable clubs to live within their means and continue to serve their supporters and communities long into the future.

“English professional football needs a major financial reset and the Government now has a once in a generation opportunity to protect our nation’s football clubs, our national sport and our communities from a gathering existential crisis. In doing so, we need a long-term solution to the issue rather than a short term fix.

“The EFL’s route to sustainability is to narrow the financial gap between the bottom of the Premier League and the top of the Championship, this will require a fairer redistribution of the game’s revenues throughout the football pyramid from which all EFL clubs will benefit.

“The League is clear that any new approach to financial re-distribution will also need to be accompanied by suitable financial controls to ensure that any additional money does not simply fuel player wage and transfer inflation but instead helps clubs to live within their means.

“With the Government seemingly committed to legislation to introduce a new regulator, the EFL now wishes to see the Government deliver on its commitment to increased financial redistribution across the pyramid in the forthcoming White Paper given the huge financial disparities that exist in the game.

“For its part, Mansfield Town will continue to support the push for reforms that will protect our club, the football pyramid and our community for generations to come.”