Northern football clubs under threat like never before, report warns

Research by the Onward think tank and Northern Research Group of Tory MPs has found that clubs in the North are more likely to suffer financial difficulties, and have accounted for two-fifths of all administrations since the 90s.

The North, which has more clubs per capita than anywhere else in the country, needs further protections to safeguard professional football clubs and grassroots football, the report urged.

It comes more than a year after the publication of the Government’s Fan-Led Review of Football Governance which looked at ways to reform and protect the national game following the collapse of Bury Football Club.

The research by Onward, “Open Goal”, noted that the sport reduced the number of childhood obesity cases in the region by almost 60,000.

John Stevenson MP, Chair of the Northern Research Group, said: “This report makes clear the crucial significance football plays to communities across the North. Our party’s majority is built on the support of footballing towns and cities across the region, who put their faith in us at the last election.”

“But Northern football is at risk, and we will be failing these voters if we do not act to protect it.

“The simple solution is for the Government to urgently deliver on what it has promised and implement the Fan-Led Review in full.”

On Thursday Michelle Donelan, the Culture Secretary, told MPs that she would “not apologise for taking the time to get [the legislation] right.

“This is a huge shake-up of football,” she said, adding that the Government will bring forward its white paper in the next two weeks.

The report warns that without implementing the reforms proposed by the Government’s Fan-Led Review the future of football in the North is at risk.

64 professional football clubs have entered administration since 1990, as a result of dangerous financial gambles and poor governance.

Of these, two-fifths (39 per cent) were located in the North and many clubs remain at risk, with nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of Northern clubs losing money each year.

The analysis reveals that a greater share of the population play grassroots football in the North than anywhere in the country except for London,

However, the grassroots game is under threat with Northern families struggling to pay for kits and subs, with significantly fewer children now participating in after-school sports in the North than elsewhere in the country.

Open Goal argues there is a clear case for the Government to implement the Review’s recommendations in full. This includes calling for the establishment of a new independent regulator and a new system of financial redistribution from the Premier League to lower leagues and grassroots football.

Alex Luke, Senior Researcher at Onward and author of the report, said: “The beautiful game runs in the lifeblood of so many Northern communities, but it has never been under greater threat. For too long, Northern football has been left to endure numerous administrations and financial disasters which have risked the loss of vital community assets.

“The Government must act urgently and implement the recommendations made by the Fan-Led Review in full.

“Doing so is the only way to end the dangerous incentives for clubs to gamble for success and safeguard the future of football for years to come.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: "We recognise the need for football to be reformed to ensure the game’s sustainability in the long term, and the Secretary of State has committed to bring forward a White Paper on the introduction of a new football regulator in the coming weeks."

"Much of what was proposed in the fan-led review of football governance is new and novel. It is right that we take the time to ensure regulation is well designed, to create a long-term solution and to manage the risk of unintended consequences."