So MPs have voted to back the Football Governance Bill and establish an independent regulator to oversee the men's game in England's top five divisions .

Thie Bill is set to become law now, & I think it will be great for English football.

Hopefully this new independent regulator will prevent the possibility of the sad situations that clubs like Bury & Macclesfield found themselves in when those original clubs went out of business.

I'm not saying that the Football Regulator will prevent every single club from getting into financial trouble in the short term, but once the Regulator is in post & gets established, the instances of clubs going into receivership should reduce over time & hopefully will disappear altogether.

Football needs change. A regulator that’s truly separate from clubs and the league could make a real difference. If they get it right, it’ll be a big step forward.

It's something that has been needed for years now; it's taken a while for football to operate within an acceptable loss, and even then, you can accumulate a considerable amount of debt over many seasons, which in the long term, doesn't offer much stability. I really hope this decision goes a long way towards securing football clubs futures and ultimately lessens the chance of historical debts becoming a problem for clubs moving forward.

This won't be a quick fix, but it will be part of the solution if they handle it well and get the right regulators in.

Fingers crossed it can play a massive part in securing the future of football and help prevent clubs from having to fold. There's room for better ownership checks, along with sanctions to force sales, but there are talks about much of this ongoing. This sounds like a significant step forward, one I do hope works out.

How it’s put into action and who is in charge of checking things will be important. It needs to be run by someone independent but well trusted for it to work properly. Still, I agree that it’s a good move towards protecting clubs and their future. It's something that could make a real difference in the long run.

Politicians will usually back something like this because they’d rather not have football issues popping up in Parliament all the time. It helps them move the focus elsewhere.

This is a positive step forward, but it’ll probably take about ten years before it really makes a difference. Change in football tends to move slowly, especially when money is involved.

Some clubs have been throwing cash around for years. Teams like Manchester United still carry massive debts, yet somehow keep spending like it’s nothing. It’s a cycle that needs fixing.

@Joshua, It’s a helpful push towards better control. Putting limits on how much clubs can spend means someone’s watching what they do, which makes it harder for mistakes or dodgy choices to be swept under the rug.

Club owners and their media teams won’t be able to dismiss things quite so easily. With clear rules, it’ll be plain to see when spending gets out of hand or corners are being cut.

EFL3 would be my first priority, funded by taking % of PL's overseas television monies

I'm all for it, but even independent regulators can be influenced and fall into corruption. It’s vital to make sure that doesn't happen. There must be no chance for them to mislead or mishandle the support meant for clubs.

so what does this actually mean? has the fa or whoever spoken about how they plan to move forward now?

@liampie, we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out, it’s still early. But having clubs held more publicly accountable, instead of managing everything behind closed doors, is a step forward. A regulator being able to check records should make a difference in how things are run.

Football would improve with independent financial regulators in place. They could help clubs manage their spending better and make sure accounts aren’t being fiddled with. When it comes to FFP, giving regulators enough power to raise concerns could stop clubs from overspending each season and keep things fair.

On 05/09/2025 at 07:34, Piethagoram said:

@Piethagoram Good luck in putting foreign owners in prison such as those from the middle East & United States. I doubt that they would be extradited due to geopolitical reasons. A massive fine or debarment would probably be the only punishment for many international owners.

I agree with @Robbie. The real focus should be on forcing the sale of owners who are clearly harming football, no matter where they’re from. But it shouldn’t stop there, there needs to be proper checks in place to stop these types from getting involved in the first place. Prevention is key.

Trying to jail foreign owners, especially those from places like the Middle East or the US, is unlikely to happen. There are too many political and legal barriers. A heavy fine or banning them from owning clubs might be the only realistic option. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than letting them carry on unchecked.