English football regulator plan confirmed but financial battles loom

English football is to take a new direction after the government confirmed plans for an independent regulator of the game, but crucial concerns over financial redistribution may yet hinder any progress.

On Thursday the government will present its white paper on football governance in the men’s elite game to the House of Commons. Its plan is to create a regulator “established in law to oversee the financial sustainability of the game and put fans back at the heart of how football is run”. Following a period of consultation, those plans will be the turned into legislation “as soon as parliamentary time allows”, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says.

Among the regulator’s powers will be the control of licensing, with clubs having to prove their solvency and “sound financial business models” before being allowed to compete. The regulator will also oversee a new test for owners and directors designed to ensure “good custodians of clubs” and “stronger due diligence on sources of wealth”. It will also be able to stop clubs from joining breakaway competitions such as the European Super League, while fans will have a voice on matters of “heritage”.

All these powers were largely expected, and broadly welcomed by the game’s key stakeholders. The FA’s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said he endorsed the white paper’s “commitment to improving the financial sustainability and governance of professional clubs”. The Premier League said the publication of the white paper was a “significant moment for English football” and that it recognised “the case for change in football governance”. The EFL called it “a landmark moment for the future of our game”.

Football authorities were joined by politicians in offering their