Fair Game represents 34 professional clubs in the English football pyramid. The long-awaited publication of the football governance bill is very welcome news indeed (Report, 18 March).
It is imperative that the incoming football regulator has real teeth. The number one objective of the regulator is to ensure the financial sustainability of football clubs throughout the pyramid. The status quo is simply unacceptable. Since the beginning of the Premier League, 64 clubs have gone into administration. Clubs in the Championship routinely spend more than they earn on players’ wages. And the cost of living crisis has left dozens of clubs staring into the abyss – over 50% in the top four divisions are technically insolvent.
The regulator needs to change the game’s culture, and it can only do that if it can set robust parameters around the financial flow in football. It cannot be left to the Premier League to determine the future of clubs such as Lincoln City, Carlisle and Chester. It is up to our politicians to ensure that they do not waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Nial Couper
CEO, Fair Game UK
As a Guardian subscriber, I fully support your mission to maintain quality journalism, but if you really believe in the importance of smaller clubs’ contribution to the footballing landscape, as suggested in your editorial on the football governance bill (19 March), why do they so rarely get any coverage in the paper? There are 48 clubs in divisions one and two of the football league, and many represent some of the largest towns and cities in the country, but all we read about is the Premier League on page after page. Surely you could find space for a league one and two round-up each week.
Graham Judge
Barrow, Suffolk