Today I am pleased to draw to the attention of the House that the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has now published [https://sotg.footballregulator.org.uk] the State of the Game (Draft) Report (“the Report”), providing an unprecedented review of the finances of our national game.

For years, football fans across the country have lived with the constant anxiety that their club, the bedrock of their local community, could be just one bad owner or one bad month away from ruin. This Report provides stark, undeniable proof that their anxiety was entirely justified. It uncovers the true financial reality of English football today and underlines why the fight to pass the Football Governance Act 2025 and establish an Independent Football Regulator was so vital.

Thanks to the action this Government has taken, we now have an independent regulator with teeth and equipped with statutory powers to protect a club’s financial future. This Report provides a deeper understanding of the financial pressures, governance gaps, and structural risks facing the football pyramid as a whole, as well as those of its individual clubs. Crucially, the Report will inform the IFR’s regulatory approach and future decision-making, so it can return our national game to health for the benefit of the communities that depend on it.

The work of the IFR to produce this report has been extensive. The analysis is based on club financial data, club ownership and transaction data, and league financial information. This has allowed the IFR to examine key trends in the wider football ecosystem including income streams, owner funding and the market for players. Systemic risks have been identified, providing a comprehensive, independent perspective on areas such as the broadcast market and the role of debt and financing.

The report’s findings are extremely serious. Seventeen clubs in the EFL and National League would be loss making even if their players played for free. More than a quarter of clubs couldn’t last a month if their owners withdrew support. Nearly two thirds of clubs in the English Football League and National League are technically insolvent; as are a fifth of Premier League clubs. Questions must be asked about how we got to this point - at a time when English football is now a record £9bn industry.

The game must be more sustainable than this. It’s been three years now since the Premier League and English Football League failed to come to an agreement over how revenue should be distributed between the leagues to protect the health of the pyramid. English football has carried on in limbo, leaving fans of all clubs, and investors, uncertain of any future stability. This Government had to step in; delivering the Football Governance Act 2025 (“the Act”) and establishing the IFR with powers to ensure fair distribution between the leagues.

This Report should be a wake-up call to those who govern our domestic game that impasse, delays and uncertainty are a thing of the past. It should also firmly put to bed any debates over the need for an Independent Football Regulator.

We urge everyone in football to look carefully at the report and consider its findings for the good of the game as a whole.

We now need a financial distributions deal to be agreed. Using the key findings of the report to focus minds, we need all sides to come together and do a deal; for clubs, for the communities they serve up and down the country, and to give confidence to fans that the role football plays in our way of life will be protected.

This Government continues to deliver on its promises to put fans back at the heart of English Football, and will always stand on the side of the fans. They deserve better than the picture this report paints. We remain fully committed to delivering on our promise to put supporters at the heart of English football and secure the future of our national game for generations to come.

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