New football regulator can end the scourge of dodgy club owners, Lord King says
A new regulator for English football can stop the risk of clubs from going under and improve the enforcement of ownership rules, Lord Mervyn King has said.
The Aston Villa fan and former club director, who went to school in Wolverhampton, has joined former players including Gary Neville in pushing plans for an independent regulator they say will safeguard the future of the English game.
It comes after six Premier League clubs agreed to join a European Super League (ESL) before backing out following widespread outrage.
MPs will debate the issue of a regulator in Parliament on Monday (June 14) after a petition was backed by more than 140,000 people, including nearly 11,000 in the West Midlands.
Speaking at Onward's 'keeping the game beautiful' debate, former Bank of England governor Lord King said the ESL breakaway had shown that self-regulation had failed in English football.
He said a powerful regulator would stop dodgy owners from taking over clubs, and ensure there was a "genuinely level playing field" for sides throughout the pyramid.
Lord King had a 10-week stint as Villa director in 2016, shortly after which the club was sold to Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia.
Drawing on his experience in the Villa boardroom, Lord King said: "Only an independent regulator is likely to be able to enforce fair play rules and to ensure adequate controls over ownerships of clubs.
"On paper we already have those things, but they frankly don't work well.
"I saw that with my own experience at Aston Villa, in which you can get an owner coming in, in this case from China, approved by the football authorities, and yet later on turns out doesn't have the money and the club ends up a week away from being unable to meet its tax payments.
"The club would have gone under and being forced to sell its best players.
"This is not sensible governance, and so the ability of an independent regulator to design and enforce fair play rules and ensure adequate controls over ownership, I think, is one of the major roles of a regulator."
Lord King conceded that many Premier League clubs were suspicious of the idea of a regulator because it appeared to be an "infringement on their power".
Addressing the debate, former Manchester United and England defender Neville said: "The regulator must safeguard the football pyramid, preserve fair competition, give supporters a voice in clubs, offer a fairer distribution of wealth and have stricter ownership rules.
"I don't see a regulator having to invade football. I don't see this as a risk."
The ESL plans prompted Boris Johnson to bring forward a fan-led review that was pledged in the Conservatives 2019 General Election manifesto.
The review, which is being led by former sports minister Tracey Crouch MP, is expected to publish its final recommendations in the autumn.
The six breakaway clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – have agreed to pay a combined £22m "towards the good of the game", the Premier League and the Football Association announced on Wednesday.
