A New Era for Football Governance
Insights, papers and commentary on the changing regulatory landscape in English football.
Exploring Football’s New Era
We’re proud to introduce a new series of commentary on the evolving landscape of English football governance. This page will soon host a curated collection of insights on the Football Governance Act 2025, the Independent Football Regulator, and the reforms reshaping how clubs are run. We’re excited to roll out each piece as the new framework takes shape. Our focus is firmly on the practical side - helping clubs, boards and senior leaders understand and navigate these changes with clarity, confidence and good governance at the core.
Part 1: Football Governance Act 2025
An introductory paper exploring the arrival of the new statutory framework, the role of the Independent Football Regulator, and the key governance and regulatory questions this new regime raises for the game.
Part 2: The Licensing Regime
A practical reflection on licensing as the gateway into regulated football — covering the move toward operating licences, enhanced governance reporting, strategic business planning, supervisory oversight, and how proportionality will apply across the football pyramid.
Part 3: Ownership, Directors and Senior Executives
An examination of the ODSE regime and its implications for ownership scrutiny, senior roles, suitability assessments, governance records, change‑notification duties, ongoing accountability and potential regulatory intervention where concerns arise.
Part 4:
The IFR’s Investigatory Powers
An examination of the IFR’s investigatory powers and their implications for information requests, escalating regulatory scrutiny, formal information notices, expert reporter review, enforcement investigation, governance readiness, record preservation, response discipline, reputational exposure and the progression from concern to evidence, intervention and potential outcome
Part 5: Sanctions
A practical reflection on how the IFR’s sanctions regime reshapes accountability in regulated football - outlining the shift from cooperative supervision to a structured enforcement framework, the escalation from information failures to regulatory infringements, the four‑step methodology for determining sanctions and financial penalties, and the circumstances under which corrective intervention, ownership consequences, or licence suspension become real risks for clubs.
Part 6: Leagues, Clubs and the New
Regulatory Architecture
A practical reflection on how the IFR reshapes the relationship between leagues, clubs and the wider regulatory system - outlining the shift to a layered architecture in which Premier League, EFL and National League rules continue to operate beneath a new statutory framework, the duties and exposure now placed on competition organisers, the backstop mechanism for revenue‑distribution deadlock, and the growing operational challenge for clubs as they navigate overlapping financial, governance and reporting requirements across multiple regimes simultaneously.
Finale: From Regulation to Reality
A practical reflection on how the new regulatory era moves English football from principle to practice - capturing the shift from informal governance to a statutory system built on licensing, supervision and accountability; the five major operational changes clubs will feel day‑to‑day; the areas where the IFR is likely to strengthen governance and surface risks earlier; the structural pressures regulation cannot resolve; and the deeper strategic questions the regime will face as clubs, leagues and the regulator adapt to a more formal, evidence‑driven model of custodianship.