Radical Plan to Save Football from Influential MP and FSA

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Damian Collins MP: “Weeks to save professional football as we know it”
The Government needs to take urgent action to “save professional football as we know it”, says Damian Collins MP, the influential former chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.

The shock of COVID-19 has hit all clubs but it is especially devastating at clubs with already fragile finances who rely on season ticket sales and gate receipts for the vast majority of their income. That revenue has reduced drastically in the past few months.

Collins proposes a bailout for clubs who need it – but they don’t get something for nothing.

In return a Football Finance Authority (FFA) would be created by the FA and backed by government funding. The FFA could provide finance to clubs to help them meet short-term operational liabilities but could not be used for transfers or infrastructure spending. The FFA would include representatives from clubs, players, and fans.

The funds would be exchanged for minority shareholdings of between 10% to 49% and independent directors would be appointed to club boards. Supporters’ trusts may be the nominating body and the director would be subject to approval by the FFA.

These independent directors would then have a responsibility to report back the FFA and they would have the power to place clubs who continue to break financial rules into administration.

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"We want to see a lasting solution to the previously existing problems of unsustainability, and so we see our proposals as going hand-in-hand with more permanent solutions already tabled by the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) around the regulation and governance of football.

“The government already has a manifesto commitment to a ‘fan-led review of football governance, which will include consideration of the Owners’ and Directors’ Test’; the COVID-19 crisis gives greater urgency to an area of concern already crying out for action.”
 
"Football now has a unique opportunity to reset and adopt new ideas, which not only secure the short-term future of clubs, but help them thrive in the seasons ahead.
“These proposals would be a huge step in the right direction and chime with the FSA’s core beliefs – that fans have a key role to play in football governance and ownership models."
 
This would change the EFL and stop the shameful governance of so many clubs. It would stop clubs spending far more money than they earn. It would mean that fans are involved in the running of clubs and prevent their clubs from falling victim to rogue owners.
There must be a very real danger of the Football League being decimated, so many clubs operate on a knife edge in any case right up to and including many of the Championship level. EFL Football clubs will need government help, the Premier is not going to help, so in return they must completely change.
This could be the plan most fans have been waiting for to return football to the real world.
 
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