Opinion: Football – it’s more than just a sport

Going to a game with a relative, kicking the ball around the local park, collecting Panini stickers or the nervous knock on the neighbour’s door after you have kicked your ball over the fence.

Since about the age of 7 or 8, my dad took me to watch Posh most Saturdays when the team played at home. I would sit on wall of the open top Glebe Road terrace - and told constantly by stewards not to put my legs over the wall. He would go with his friends from the child and adolescent NHS unit he managed. Drink in the Old Still pub, watch the football, and back in the car to listen to the Sports Report from 5pm.

Football is at the heart of communities. It is important to millions of people. It is more than just a sport.

Over the last 30 years we have seen lots of change - some good, some bad. Money has poured into the game and the best players in the world came to play in England. However, there has been a dark side. The divide between the Premier League and the rest became too wide. Football governance failed to adapt.

A small minority have an immense amount of influence – and in some cases have let fans down.

The Government promised to hold a Fan Led Review of Football Governance to secure the future. By the time you read this column, the Government response to this review will have been published.

When six premier league teams almost joined a ‘European Super League’ protected from relegation, it became obvious change was necessary. It was a threat to the English football pyramid. The idea of this super league was dropped within 72 hours.

The collapse of Bury F.C, a club founded in 1885, also set alarm bells ringing. It exposed what can happen when clubs are not protected.

Other clubs have struggled, Macclesfield and Derby County were two other high-profile clubs with financial problems.

Then there was Covid. Football like so many other industries suffered at the hands of the pandemic.

For the first time since the Second World War, football ground to a halt.

Fortunately, clubs survived due to a combination of government support and commitment from football stakeholders, including fans and club owners.

However, the pandemic laid bare the fragile nature of the finances of the majority of league clubs, as well as the structural challenges of the existing domestic football authorities.

The set of proposals published by the Government - based on the Fan Led Review – will help tackle the issues of bad governance, and the gap between the have and have nots.

The review included fans from over 130 different clubs, over 100 hours of meetings, and thousands of surveys completed. The message is clear, football is nothing without the fans.

I look forward to a future where football clubs are protected, and a fairer financial system where a club’s future is determined on the pitch rather than just in the boardroom.