Football regulator: Yorkshire clubs on either side of Premier League/EFL divide offer their views

The Conservatives promised as much in their 2019 General Election manifesto and on Tuesday, the bill to create a body overseeing English football got its first reading.

One area likely to be at the top of the new regulator's in-tray is imposing a deal to better redistribute the income the world's most lucrative domestic football league earns to clubs lower down the pyramid.

The Government had hoped the Premier League and Football League (EFL) would agree that between themselves but talks between the top-tier clubs on what they should offer and with what strings attached collapsed last week.

As the chief executive of Yorkshire's only Premier League club, but one heading for next season's Championship, Stephen Bettis sees some positives in having a regulator but objects to clubs being told how they should run their business.

Hull City are in the Championship but harbour ambitions of promotion via May’s play-offs. Their chief executive, Tan Kesler, is cautiously optimistic about a regulator, arguing English football is in a stronger place than it started the week for the introduction of the bill.

"How powerful the regulator will be we don't know," argued Kesler, “but at least the Government are being pro-active appointing someone to work on behalf of us and the Premier League to make football better.

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"I'm sure there will be blind spots and defects but if we can get the main part right, I think football will function better in England.

"We're in a better place than we were on Monday because it's taken us so long to get to this point and now we should get around the table and support each other."

Bettis favours a limited regulator more focused on things like protecting the future and heritage of clubs like the 134-year-old one he runs.

“There’s elements that are good," he said. "We still don’t really know how heavy the touch is going to be.

“Personally, I think you should be able to run your business, that’s the reality of it. I always refer to this as a business but I am also understanding it’s a football club.

"Although Prince Abdullah owns it, he is just taking care of it for a period of time. The supporters own the football club, let’s be honest.

“You can’t be in a position where the club doesn’t remain in existence. When you look at the impact this club has on a community, at times you don’t realise how important it is.

"That is great if you can say another club won’t go into administration.

"(Then) there’s the ongoing discussions about the Premier League funding more of the pyramid.

"It’s still not resolved but there’s offers of funds, short-term, so if any club gets into any difficulties, there’s money available to help.”

Kesler has no problem with the Premier League making demands of the EFL in return, arguing the two parties need to work together.

"We should be held responsible for our decisions and how we take risks," he argued. "They should have a say because we're in this together.

"Behind closed doors we've been actively trying to find the right way, it's not like the Premier League have been saying, 'You have to control your spending because we say so.'

"Most of the EFL clubs have been very receptive and very open.

"As traditional as the EFL is, for the last two years we've been moving very efficiently, almost more efficiently than the Premier League.

"We voted in September for a proposal that never came – imagine that!

"It was not about money, it was cost controls and squad ratios. Imagine how united we are to do something right for football in England?"

Additional reporting: Leon Wobschall