Football Governance Bill [Lords]

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 28th April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

I will start by quoting this historic football match commentary:

“It’s Grimsby giving it away in a very dangerous part of the pitch, for the first time the visitors becoming the architects of their own downfall, it’s tucked in by the substitute Luther Wildin and Stevenage you sense are going up today!”

With apologies to my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn), that was the moment on 3 May 2023 when the Mighty Boro, Stevenage FC, scored the final goal in a match that sealed their promotion to the EFL league one, where they remain today. Our club, whose colours I am wearing, is part of the lifeblood of the town not just on the pitch, but off it, with the incredible work they do in the community. It is the exemplar of a local football club being a truly community asset.

I speak in favour of the Bill because it is not just about much-needed regulation, but about safeguarding the future of our national sport, ensuring financial stability for clubs across the pyramid and making sure our fans—the people who spend their money, week in and week out, to follow their team across the country—are given a real say in how their clubs are run.

[Mr Calvin Bailey (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. He is telling a very similar story to that of my local club, Leyton Orient. Its fans warmly welcomed the reinvestment from David Gandler, building on the leadership of the chairman, Nigel Travis, who has delivered sustainable growth, promotion to league one, clear championship ambitions and a new stadium, and has strengthened the community with up to £6.7 million in social value. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that all ownership transitions should be like this and should follow this model of fan engagement?

[Kevin Bonavia]

I certainly agree with my hon. Friend. We both represent constituencies with clubs that are good examples of what can be done, but our duty here is to safeguard our clubs and all clubs in this country from future failure. They are not businesses; as I have said, they are community assets.

Last season, 23.7 million people attended matches in EFL competitions, demonstrating the profound connection between these clubs and their local communities. It is not just on the pitch that clubs are contributing to their communities. In the same season, EFL clubs contributed over £1.2 billion of social value through their community programmes, with my local club’s community arm, the Stevenage FC Foundation, alone generating £10.7 million of social value in my constituency and the wider area. In that timeframe, the foundation also delivered 185 training sessions per week, engaging over 15,000 unique participants annually and delivering over 9,000 hours of activity. That is an incredible feat.

However, the financial stability of all clubs across the football pyramid is in a precarious place, with EFL clubs expected to lose around £450 million this season alone. Alongside this, the financial disparity between the premier league and the EFL is stark. In the 2022-23 season, 20 premier league and five EFL clubs with parachute payments received 92% of the distributable revenues, while the remaining 67 professional clubs shared just 8%. This imbalance undermines the systemic sustainability of English football, and I am glad that this Bill proposes change so that a 75%-25% split of combined media revenues between the premier league and the EFL will become the new normal and provide much-needed financial support to EFL clubs.

It is clear that the financial situation in which we find ourselves across the pyramid is untenable, and this has directly led to financial crises in clubs across England. It is beyond belief that the Conservative party, which sat on its hands for most of the past 14 years, claimed in its manifesto that it wanted an independent football regulator, so why on earth do we not have cross-party consensus on this principle?

[Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)]

Quite simply, because it is no longer independent.

[Kevin Bonavia]

The hon. Member will know that the Bill has been improved to make the independent regulator more independent, for example—and there are plenty of examples of improvements in the Bill—by giving the regulator a greater ability to actually regulate the game. Conservative Front Benchers say they support independence and say they want regulation, but many of its Members do not like regulation at all. This is not a party that believes in protecting the national game; it is a party that wants to play party political football with something that should have cross-party consensus.

Alongside the financial stability that this Bill will bring to our clubs, we need to respect fans’ involvement in these community assets, so I want to pay tribute to all the clubs that already engage in good faith with their fans. I am proud of the work that Stevenage have done to involve fan representation in their yearly engagement plan, and for the initiatives of other clubs, such as Blackpool, whose directors I chatted with at the match with Stevenage last week. They explained how they had had a pint with Tangerine fans from across the country to hear their views on how the club should be run. That said, they did get a bit lucky at our place, although I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool South (Chris Webb) would agree with me that both our clubs have great foundations and trusts that support their fans.

I am also pleased that the amendments the Government have made to the Bill during its passage in the other place actually do strengthen that independence, as I said to the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French). Under this Bill, poor and reckless behaviour that ignores local fan communities will not be tolerated by the regulator. This Bill provides the safety net that clubs need to be financially secure and to be able to deliver for their local communities for a long time to come. Let us all support this Bill, and therefore support our fantastic football clubs.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

Oral Answers to Questions

Kevin Bonavia Excerpts

Thursday 16th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Paul Davies (Colne Valley) (Lab)]

8. What steps her Department is taking to support grassroots sport.

[Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)]

10. What steps her Department has taken to support grassroots sport in Stevenage.

--- Later in debate ---

[Stephanie Peacock]

Biodiversity net gain is a legal requirement for all new developments and is not specific to sports facilities. The Government are working with Sport England, the Football Foundation and wider grassroots sport to help reduce the sector’s impact on the environment. That of course includes supporting these organisations in meeting their obligations regarding biodiversity net gain. I understand that the Football Foundation will meet officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which oversees the implementation of biodiversity net gain, to discuss this issue further.

[Kevin Bonavia]

I thank the Minister for her response. Last year, in my constituency, the Stevenage Football Club Foundation delivered more than 9,000 hours of activity in grassroots sports and engaged over 15,000 participants, generating nearly £10.7 million-worth of social value. This did not happen only in my constituency. Last year, the 72 English Football League community club organisations delivered more than £1.2 billion-worth of social value across this country. Will the Minister commit to supporting local community club organisations, such as the Stevenage FC Foundation, in engaging local people and directly supporting communities?

[Stephanie Peacock]

I pay tribute to the Stevenage FC Foundation and the many other community organisations up and down the country for their important work. Local community club organisations use the power of sport to change lives through charitable and community activities, often through delivery across a range of areas, from health to wellbeing and employment. I have seen it in my own area of Barnsley, with Reds in the Community, which does brilliant work across my town.