Covid-19: Football League

Lord Addington Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

On the support needed across the English Football League, as I have said a couple of times, we have been very clear that those with the broadest shoulders within the football family and at the top of the pyramid need to bear that cost. We have been reassured by the Premier League that it has no intention of letting any club go bust because of the pandemic. Work continues on returning fans to stadia, including with the Sports Technology and Innovation Group, looking at every possible means to return fans as quickly as possible.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, will the Minister take this opportunity to reassure the football family that the Government like our structure of promotion and relegation, which is very important to the structure of our football and the nature of its community basis, and that any clubs at the top whose ownership may come from a culture where you have a franchise and a guaranteed fixture list know that this is something that they will not get away with here—at least, not with government blessing?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

The noble Lord raises something fundamental to the way our game is organised in this country, and I believe the Government see it as critical going forward.