Football: Finance

(asked on 12th December 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the EFL and Premier League on adequate funding and support for the seventh and eighth tiers of English football.


Answered by
Stuart Andrew Portrait
Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 18th December 2023

Football is an integral part of our national life, and local football clubs, including those in the seventh and eighth tiers of English football, are the lifeblood of communities. The Government wants to see them protected for fans now and in the future.

While the independent regulator for football will be focused on the top five tiers of the men’s game in England, the whole football pyramid will benefit from improvements in financial regulation and sustainability, and increased standards.

Additionally, the Government issued a Competition Law Exclusion Order in 2021 to maintain funding stability within the English football pyramid. In exchange, the Premier League agreed to increase their solidarity funding by at least £100 million to the football pyramid across 2022-2025 seasons, including the creation of a Club Development Fund to increase the sustainability of National League system clubs, improve the playing experience and enhance connections with the local grassroots community; and additional funding to the the Football Stadia Improvement Fund to support ground grading improvements within the National League system and the women’s pyramid.

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