English Football: Financial Sustainability and Governance

John Glen Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Yuan Yang]

That is absolutely the case. My hon. Friend highlights the history of his club in Brighton. In the �80s and �90s when the future was unclear, it was down to the owners. Too much, unfortunately, is down to, as he mentioned, the lottery of ownership. Brighton and Hove is now a well-managed club. I think we can have many such positive stories across the country, including a positive story, and a positive outcome, for Reading, but the question about football governance and sustainability affects all of us in this room today.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

The hon. Lady is making a passionate speech and has done a great job of bringing us all to this Chamber. I lived through Reading�s trials through my stepson who is a season ticket holder� obviously, my first love is for the Whites in Salisbury. Does she not recognise the fundamental challenges of disturbing a market that contains one of our greatest national assets, which is the premier league? I feel quite torn and anxious about the scope creep of any regulatory intervention, although I accept that the core of what she says has a lot of merit.

[Yuan Yang]

I always appreciate my fellow Treasury Committee member�s comments on the correct regulation of markets, but I would argue that football clubs are not simply a commodity and football competition is not simply a market. If we were to accept that view and for the sake of argument say, �Let�s treat the competitions as a market�, I would argue that we have severe market failure when over 50 clubs have gone into administration in the last four decades. The externalities of that market failure are borne too much by the fans sitting in the room with us today.