Football Governance Bill [Lords]

Chris Webb Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Webb (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

When Christine Seddon sat down with me and the Secretary of State in Blackpool last year, she spoke with the quiet, fierce pride of someone who had fought for her club and won. Christine is a third-generation Blackpool FC fan, and as chair of the Blackpool Supporters Trust she helped lead a movement that brought integrity, pride and professionalism back to a club on its knees. She told us that the situation in Blackpool was unique, and she hoped that it would stay that way. She said:

“To have to politicise football fans is not something we ever wanted,”

but after being let down so badly, it was felt there was no choice. Christine’s words have stayed with me.

Imagine having to go head-to-head with the very club your family supported for generations because you love it too much to watch it being recklessly destroyed. That was the reality at Bloomfield Road. After years of mismanagement and failure to reinvest significant earnings, and a complete disregard for supporters, Blackpool fans took matters into their own hands and a four-year boycott, led with the courage and unity of the Blackpool Supporters Trust, restored pride in our club and gave hope to fans everywhere. Christine told us that if we had said to her five years ago that a football governance Bill was coming, she would not have believed it—it would have been the answer to her prayers. Now we must get it right.

The Bill must give fans like Christine, groups like the Blackpool Supporters Trust and millions of fans across the country the voice they have earned through their loyalty and sacrifice, and by parting with their hard-earned cash to support their clubs through every high and low. Since its founding in 1887, Blackpool football club has been a constant in our community, but, like so many others, we have seen a growing disconnect between those who own our clubs and those who make them matter—the fans. Fans are the beating heart of local football. They turn up rain or shine—there is a lot of rain in Blackpool—win or lose, but too often they have been let down and ignored.

Nowhere was the need for change more powerfully demonstrated than at Bloomfield Road in 2015. Blackpool’s story is not just about survival; it is about what fans can achieve when they are respected, heard and empowered. That is why in 2018 the Blackpool Supporters Trust became one of the first fan organisations to formally petition Parliament for an independent football regulator. It saw what was coming and acted. Today, with this Bill, we are answering that call. It will tackle rogue and incompetent owners and start to rebalance power between the boardrooms and the stands. It will ensure that no club—not Blackpool, not Bury, not Reading and not Macclesfield—is ever again allowed to fall into crisis because of rules.

The premier league is a phenomenal British success story, watched and envied across the world. Nobody in the House seeks to punish its success, but even the greatest leagues cannot stand without strong foundations. When 95% of the £3.2 billion of annual broadcast revenue remains with just 26 clubs at the top, the case for fairer distribution to sustain the whole pyramid becomes impossible to ignore. Protecting the pyramid is an investment in the future of our national game. That is why the Government’s approach, in giving the regulator targeted backstop powers to intervene as a last resort, is the right one.

Christine also reminds us of something else—that fans are not just spectators, but a massive untapped resource of knowledge, passion and experience that clubs would do well to harness. This weekend, Blackpool will play their last home game of the season. Sadly, they have fallen short of their promotion hopes, but the stands will be full because loyal fans will turn up and do as they always do: give unwavering support to a team who have shown professionalism, determination and ambition for our club. This is the Bill for them, and for every supporter who never gave up.