English football is about to become a licensed industry
Not because it evolved
Because it failed
For thirty years the game ran on a fragile illusion
That wealth would trickle down
That owners would behave
That broadcast money would stabilise everything
Instead it produced a system where survival depended on timing, luck and one competent decision maker
The evidence is not subtle
Since 1992 there have been over 60 insolvency events across English league clubs as outlined in the UK Government Football Governance Impact Assessment 2024
Entire institutions pushed to the brink or erased
That is not bad luck
That is a broken design
LET’S BE HONEST FOR A SECOND
Some form of oversight was inevitable
Football did not regulate itself
It allowed reckless ownership
Unsustainable wage structures
Dependency on broadcast cycles
Clubs living one bad season away from collapse
So yes intervention was coming
The real question is not whether regulation should exist
It is what kind of system it creates
FOOTBALL BY PERMISSION
The Independent Football Regulator introduces a simple rule
No licence
No competition
Clubs must prove financial sustainability, governance standards, ownership suitability and ongoing compliance
This is being sold as protection
It is actually something else
Conditional existence
WHAT NON COMPLIANCE REALLY MEANS
The regulator can fine clubs up to 10 percent of revenue
Impose restrictions
Issue binding directions
And ultimately revoke licences
Revocation is described as a last resort
But let’s be clear
If you cannot compete you cannot earn
If you cannot earn you cannot survive
That is not oversight
That is extinction with paperwork
THIS DOES NOT SAVE FOOTBALL
IT DECIDES WHO IS ALLOWED TO PLAY IT
That is the shift
Not safety
Selection
THE INSIGHT THAT CHANGES THE DEBATE
Everyone thinks this is about stopping failure
It is not
It is about deciding which types of football are allowed to exist
Because licensing does not just remove bad actors
It removes anything that does not fit the model
And here is the part no one wants to say out loud
The more innovative your structure is
The more it looks like a risk
So what disappears first
Not the biggest clubs
Not the safest clubs
The different ones
THE CONTRADICTION AT THE CORE
We are told fans should focus on football not finances
At the exact moment the game is rebuilt around financial thresholds, compliance frameworks and regulatory approval
Fans are not being freed from finance
They are being locked out of control of it
HOW YOU CREATE A FRANCHISE SYSTEM WITHOUT SAYING IT
English football still has promotion and relegation
On paper it remains open
But licensing changes the reality
Regulation does not just reduce risk
It raises the cost of entry
And when the cost of entry rises the winners are predictable
Established clubs
Existing structures
Proven models
That is not an open pyramid
That is a filtered system
A franchise model in everything but name
THE QUESTION ENGLISH FOOTBALL IS NOT ASKING
If regulation is the answer
Why did the United States not build this system
Since 1992 more than 150 professional soccer clubs in the US have folded
More recently over 20 USL clubs have collapsed since 2015
So where is their independent regulator
They did not build one
They solved instability differently
They closed the system
Through franchise structures, centralised control, ownership gates and internal cost mechanisms
But here is the trade off no one talks about
America traded soul for stability
England now risks trading both
THE FALSE SOLUTIONS
The 50+1 rule improves alignment but it is not a complete solution
Salary caps sound fair but break reality and protect incumbents
Transfer controls get closer but still sit on the surface
THE REAL PROBLEM
Football does not have a spending problem
It has an incentive problem
Owners win on upside
Fans absorb downside
Fix spending and the problem moves
Fix incentives and the system changes
THE IDEA THE REGULATOR MISSED
Fans must be consulted
That is the language
But consultation without power is theatre
So here is the real question
Where are fans inside governance
Not outside
Inside
CHIEF SUPPORTER OFFICER
I have already put this directly to Richard Monks
Because if this system is serious
Fans cannot remain spectators in governance
They must be participants
Chief Supporter Officer
Board level
Legal duty to supporters
Oversight of key decisions
Independent accountability
Not symbolic
Structural
Because if fans are not inside governance
They are not being protected
They are being managed
THIS IS WHERE YOU WIN OR DISAPPEAR
Most people will argue with the regulator
That is a losing game
The smarter move is this
Build a system that makes the regulator irrelevant
Football Is For The Fans already does what the regulator is trying to force
It reduces dependency
It aligns incentives
It embeds governance
It distributes risk
We are not reacting to the future of football
We are building it
FINAL WORD
Football failed because it had no structure
Now it risks becoming something with too much control
From chaos to compliance
But the future does not belong to either
It belongs to the system that gets this right
Fans with power
Clubs with stability
Football with soul
Because the moment football needs permission to exist
It stops belonging to the people