Labour’s Football Governance Bill has now passed through Parliament and is set to get Royal Assent and become law, delivering on another manifesto commitment from last year.
It introduces an independent football regulator, which will:
Give clubs a stable financial footing
Put fans back at the heart of the game
Take on rogue owners
This government is protecting the game and its heritage at every level. Not only will it help clubs like Latics who have just been promoted back into the Football League, it will protect the game from the grassroots and restore the connection between the game and local communities.
We know how valuable football clubs are to fans, communities and local economies. We want to secure their long-term future and avoid financial sustainability issues many clubs have suffered from over recent years at every level of the pyramid.
We want more football clubs to have stable ownership which is rooted in the community – like Latics have had since the Rothwell family came in – and not suffer financial sustainability problems and instability like Latics have had in the past before the Rothwells came in and nearby clubs like Bury FC had, which ended up in them entering administration in 2020.
With the work we have done over recent years to secure Boundary Park as an asset of community value, give it security in the long-term with the ground sharing deal between Oldham Athletic and Oldham RLFC, and launch SportsTown at Boundary park a £70 million multi-sports centre of excellence from grassroots sport for all, up to elite performance Further & Higher Education.
Labour is delivering at every level of government on a shared priority: to safeguard heritage, community venues and local sports institutions through community ownership and robust regulatory frameworks.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 