Expert Panel for Fan-led Review of Football Governance

Monday 24th May 2021 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Nigel Huddleston)]

This statement sets out the full membership of the advisory panel to support the work of the hon. Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), as she commences the fan-led review of football.

The panel features fan representation at its heart and includes former players, managers, current administrators, non-league, independent members and representatives of the women’s game. The chair and panel will now begin a series of roundtable meetings that will reach out to fans and governing bodies across the football pyramid to hear their views on the future of football.

Fans are at the heart of our national game and the Government are ensuring their safe return to stadia across the country. Fans will be at the centre of the review, with extensive engagement with the premier league, championship, women’s football, leagues one and two and non-league, as well as community and diversity fan networks.

The chair and panel will canvass fans’ views on ownership, governance and financial flows within the game. In addition, they will assess the need for an independent football regulator charged with implementing regulation and compliance, and how that might work within the existing framework provided by the Football Association, Premier League and English Football League.

The panel announced reflects all parts of the game, and the review of football governance wants to hear that diversity reflected in the views it receives on how our national game can be changed for the better for all fans.

A copy of the membership of the panel will be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Fan-led Review of Football Governance Advisory Panel: the full panel is as follows:

Fans’ representative - Kevin Miles (CEO, The Football Supporters’ Association)

Former footballer - Clarke Carlisle

Commercial expertise - Dan Jones (Deloitte)

Football administration - Prof Denise Barrett-Baxendale (CEO, Everton FC)

Independent - Danny Finkelstein, independent member

Independent/regulation - David Mahoney (COO, England and Wales Cricket Board, formerly Ofcom)

Independent - Godric Smith, Director, Cambridge United

Women’s Game - Dawn Airy, Chair WSL

Non-league Representation - James Tedford, formerly Secretary, Southport FC

Former manager - Roy Hodgson

[HCWS51]