West Ham United vice chair Karren Brady has claimed the introduction of a football regulator would signal the end of "aspiration" for clubs in the professional football pyramid.
Brady, speaking in the House of Lords on Wednesday morning insisted that passing legislation to that effect would lead to a "closed shop" in football."When I speak about the dangers lurking in this Bill, I do so from not from ideology or theory, but from practical, real, lived experience," she said. "I also speak out of a love of and real passion for the game.
"The Bill’s intentions came from a good place. Who wouldn’t want to protect clubs’ historic heritage assets or prevent breakaway leagues or to strengthen fan engagement? But aspects of this legislation risks suffocating the very thing that makes English football so unique, the aspiration that allows clubs to rise and succeed in our pyramid system. The ambition that means fans can dream.
“This would involve extreme redistribution from the bottom-half clubs in the Premier League to the competitive clubs in the Championship; large reductions in parachute payments and levelling down of the Premier League to bring the Championship much closer to it. Some advocates for this, on a frankly comical basis, think it can be done without any impact on the Premier League’s world-leading status.
“The vision, I think, is for a German-style system where most clubs in the top two divisions can become essentially interchangeable, just going around and around in a washing machine while a small, few privileged clubs are allowed to float away and entrench their financial dominance. It would replace our brilliant but brutal meritocracy with the likelihood of a closed shop where survival, not aspiration, becomes a ceiling."
Responding to Brady's comments, Labour representative Baroness Fiona Twycross said: "Irresponsible owners, unsuitable financial models and inadequate regulation have cast a shadow over too many of our clubs and too often it is fans who have had to fight to protect their club’s identity, heritage, and even its very existence.
"The football industry has not gone far enough in tackling these issues, despite many opportunities to do so. That is why we are bringing forward this Bill."
The Football Governance Bill aims to protect financial sustainability of English football plus the identity and heritage of clubs, while giving fans a stronger voice.
It will establish an independent football regulator for the top five tiers of the men’s game to primarily "improve the resilience of club finances, tackle rogue owners and directors and strengthen fan engagement".
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