Football supporters now have a bigger say in how their clubs are run
This landmark legislation introduces a watchdog for the top five tiers of the men's game, aiming to ensure clubs are run sustainably and are accountable to their supporters.
The new regulator will possess 'backstop' powers to impose financial settlements between the English Football League (EFL) and the Premier League if they fail to reach an agreement.
The Act's journey to law was prompted by the attempted European Super League breakaway and numerous instances of clubs facing financial distress and mismanagement.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy highlighted that the Act delivers on promises to fans, protecting cherished clubs and their vital role in communities.
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The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Michelle Agyemang heading for the big time after Euro 2025 heroics
Midfielder Ella Toone fully expects England team-mate Michelle Agyemang will get stopped for a few more selfies once they leave the Euro 2025 bubble. Agyemang is undeniably the breakout star of the defending champions' European campaign where, from their luxury accommodations perched high above Zurich, it is relatively simple for the youngest Lioness on Sarina Wiegman's squad to block out the escalating buzz around her. But as soon as they leave Switzerland – be it with a trophy after Sunday's final with Spain or not – the 19-year-old Arsenal forward, who twice saved the Lionesses from elimination in this tournament, has unequivocally arrived. 'Michelle, it's mad, like I would think she's about 30 years old, she's so mature,' said Toone of catalyst Agyemang, who netted equalisers in England's stunning quarter- and semi-final comebacks. 'She's so humble, she's coming to this tournament with freedom, you know, not a worry, not a care. She's just gone out there and done what's been asked of her. 'She's been amazing for us. She's turned up in big moments when we've needed her. She's got a lot of talent, and she can do a lot of things that not many players can do. 'Even when she scored and kept us in games, she's been the same Michelle that she was when she started this tournament. So, yeah, I'm absolutely buzzing for her. It's nice for good people to get things that they deserve, and she's definitely one of those people.' Agyemang and Arsenal team-mate Chloe Kelly have been compared to Alessia Russo and best friend Toone, England's 'super-subs' during their Euro 2022 triumph. The the latter came off the bench twice to score at that home tournament, including the first of the Lionesses' goals in their 2-1 extra-time victory over Germany in the Wembley final. And yet Agyemang's anointing this summer is even more spectacular, considering her heroics in the knockouts came during just her third and fourth senior England appearances. She burst onto the scene as a last-minute replacement for an injured Russo, then scored 41 seconds into her England debut in April, ultimately convincing Wiegman she deserved a place in her 23-woman squad. Agyemang has spent the last Women's Super League season on loan at Brighton, and could still go out on loan again for the new campaign to ensure more regular playing time – and would no doubt receive plenty of offers. She might also remain with the Champions League winners – where she will join new recruit Olivia Smith, women's football's first £1million player, at one of the most well-supported clubs in the world. Either scenario, it seems, comes with a much brighter spotlight on a wise-beyond-her-years forward who admires Kelly Smith, Russo and Lauren James but says she wants to be a 'unique player' who offers 'something different'. Toone, who also scored in the 2023 World Cup final, knows exactly what it is like to achieve notoriety in a major tournament – and some of the stranger consequences that come with it. 'She might get papped eating a pasty like I did!' Toone exclaimed. 'I'll have to warn her about that. 'I think she's definitely in the bubble now but I think when she gets out she'll be recognised a lot more than she was before the tournament, that's for sure, and she definitely deserves that as well.'
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
How England can solve Spain problem to seize Euro 2025 glory
The last few hours before a major final always have that strangely charged serenity. If that sounds like a contradiction, it only fits with the mood. At England 's Dolder Grand base, there's also one question left hanging in the rarefied air. Will Sarina Wiegman come up with something different for the Euro 2025 final - the team's third in a row, and her fifth? The route to Basel's St Jakob-Park has been tumultuous, with the England manager arguably getting her starting approach wrong in at least three games. There is nevertheless another crucial element. This is the sixth time that Wiegman's England have faced Spain in three years, the third in a major tournament, and the fourth since Spain evolved into this imperious team that dominates every game they play. England have lost two of those last three, but that has at least given the manager and her players a deeper understanding of how the Spanish work, the little details. So, does she do anything special? Can she surprise them? The suggestions so far are that there won't be anything radical, but that's only so far. Epiphanies can arrive in the tense final moments. That's the thing when two sides know each other as intimately as this. Such challenges come down to the intricacies, the little movements. That level of familiarity speaks to the fact that these have become the two powers in the women's game, as well as the wider game. They are intertwined in many other ways. Both are going for doubles. For Spain, it's the opportunity to become just the third side to be world and European champions at the same time, after Norway 1995-97 and Germany 2003-11. For England, it's the chance to become just the second side to retain the Euros, after Germany 1989-91 and Germany 1997 through to 2013. The latter admittedly involves a lot of successive victories, which is what many in the women's game feel Spain could now be capable of. That only accentuates the challenge for England, especially to put down a marker of their own. That touches on another area where there's empathy between the two squads. They both appreciate the social power of the other. Spain's 2023 victory ultimately forced an overhaul at their controversial federation, and the players now want a victory to stand on their own. 'They probably could have had more respect,' Keira Walsh said this week. 'I think the way our league jumped after we won the Euros and everything in and around it, if you compare it to Spain, it probably wasn't the same and they won the World Cup. They probably could have had more support. 'It was all about the other stuff that had gone on. As a professional, that was disappointing to see. I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they probably deserved a little bit more than what they got.' The Spanish players have meanwhile marvelled at what England's Euro 2022 win meant for the country. That significance has now gone to greater levels with this tournament's stand against the racist abuse that Jess Carter suffered. In other words, there's a greater value to either victory. England's semi-final brought ITV's highest audience this year, at a peak of 10.2m. Spain's semi-final brought 40 percent of the national audience share. Whoever loses, the women's game still wins. As regards who lifts the trophy, Spain are the clear favourites. It's not just about their status as world champions, or the fact that they have largely cruised through this tournament. The consensus in women's football is that they just play to a higher level than anyone else. Opposition sides find it exhausting, as if they're constantly fighting to stay in a game. That is down to an ideology and coaching structure that amplifies the profound technical quality of the players. You can see it in one of the main storylines going into the final. While England have been concerned about the fitness of Lauren James, the reality is Spain have about six players of James' calibre, with Aitana Bonmati then above all of them. She naturally offered the necessary brilliance to decide Spain's one testing game in the tournament so far, Wednesday's semi-final against Germany. Against that, there's yet another profound contrast in the journeys here. Where Spain have looked the best team in Switzerland, England have generally played way beneath their level. Four of their five games have required desperate rescue acts, that came from utter chaos. FA staff and players like Walsh have insisted that it is not just 'luck', and there's an obvious spirit and resolve, but it's clearly not any kind of sustainable game plan. And they now face a team where a game plan is more essential than ever. This is why Wiegman's thinking is so specifically important. Because, as the manager and her staff will be poring over in these final hours, there are a lot of obvious logical problems to solve. The key with Spain's entire ideology is that they play the game on their terms, taking the ball and playing high up the pitch. Their strongest area is in midfield, and especially the more advanced part of it. That is exactly where England have had the most problems, since every opposition side has realised an obvious blueprint is to press Walsh. The Spanish are at least susceptible to pace due to the calculated risk that their high line represents, but this is an England squad badly short of that exact quality outside Lauren Hemp. Spain are also better than in 2023. England are worse. When you break all that down, it's hard not to see a Spanish win. Or, at least, that's probably what would happen in four games out of five. This is just one game, however, which is also the biggest game you can have outside a World Cup final. It's exactly why the argument about finishing first in the group and when you play Spain was misguided. Yes, champions have to face anyone, but it's clearly better to face the notional best team in a final. Sure, if everything goes normally, Spain should win. But a final is not a normal game. If it gets to 70 minutes at 0-0 or an unexpected score, the tension from that ticking clock can have a pronounced effect on the world champions. Abnormal things can happen. England's own resolve is all the more important there, except Spain aren't exactly short on resilience themselves. As the defending European champions, England are also much better than having to rely on freak occurrences. Or, at least, they should be better. They beat Spain 1-0 as recently as February. None of the performances in Euro 2025 have yet matched that. It's why they do need to dramatically up it, why there's never been a greater need to seize the moment and step up from the first whistle, which is something many have bemoaned this tournament. They need a performance they haven't offered in months. The squad is at least filled with Arsenal players, not least tournament stars Michelle Agyemang and Chloe Kelly. They faced exactly these dynamics when beating Barcelona in the Champions League final. Arsenal won. Logic suggests Spain. Tournaments don't often work on logic. Wiegman still has to find new solutions. We know what Spain will do, after all. The question over what Wiegman does will consequently be the key determining factor in who delivers another transcendental moment. That's for their team, for their country, for the game.
The Independent
39 minutes ago
- The Independent
Aitana Bonmati reveals England's mistake and the quality to define Euro 2025 final
At Euro 2025, Aitana Bonmati has already demonstrated her ability to be patient, and wait for the gaps to open up. Here, though, the world's best player is sitting in front of a tactics board, pushing markers across a Subbuteo pitch and explaining how Spain defeated England to win the 2023 World Cup final. Across sport, and certainly in football, It is rare to come across examples of the best in the world calmly articulating the little moments that separate their genius from the rest. But Bonmati is an exception in many respects and, at 27, the midfielder's awareness of space and her ability to exploit it is what defines her generational talent. England already have a painful example of how Bonmati's reading of the game proved to be the difference in a final of small margins; Olga Carmona's goal won Spain their first World Cup two years ago but it was the trap Bonmati laid for Lucy Bronze that triggered the counter-attack. Bonmati's intelligence to close the pitch and block the pass to Ella Toone created the critical turnover that England will be out to avenge in Basel on Sunday. If Spain are in need of another defining moment, it will likely come from the vision and mind of their No 6, who has gone from spending four days in a Madrid hospital to the Euro 2025 final in the space of four weeks. It is no coincidence that Bonmati pointed to her head after appearing to defy physics with the goal that sent Spain through to the final. As Barcelona and Spain have led the way, Bonmati has emerged as their leading star. She has embodied the skill that has flowed through the best two teams in the world, as well as their determination to leave the game in a better place. It is a quality she inherited from birth. When Bonmati won her first Ballon d'Or after Spain's World Cup triumph, she thanked her parents for the 'fight and resilience in my blood' - they were both teachers of languages and Catalan culture, as well as socialists and campaigners for Catalonian independence. Her parents, Rosa Bonmatí Guidonet and Vicent Conca i Ferràs, also fought to change a Spanish law that stated children had to take their father's name first and their mother's name second. Two years after Bonmati was born, they won. As it is, she takes her first surname, Bonmati, from her mother, and her second surname, Conca, from her father, and was one of the first children in Spain to have her surnames in that order. There was a sense of deja vu in the Spanish camp when Bonmati was admitted to hospital with viral meningitis in the week before the Euros, having missed their friendly against Japan. It came three years after Alexia Putellas, then the Ballon d'Or holder, suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in training on the eve of Euro 2022, forcing her to miss the tournament completely. The shock, though, wore off as Bonmati posted a positive update from hospital and was later discharged, but she still began Spain's first two games of the tournament on the bench and with some doubts over her fitness. In her place, there was the romantic story of Putellas coming back to her best, making up for lost time with three goals and four assists during the group stage as Spain cruised into the quarter-finals. Alongside her, there has also been the triumphant return of Patri Guijarro, who sat out of the last World Cup in protest of unequal conditions and sacrificed herself as Spain defied their own federation to claim a historic victory. Guijarro has resumed her integral role in the base of Spain's midfield, adding to their control with her calm, forceful presence. But they may not be in the final were it not for Bonmati. After starting in Spain's final group game, a 3-1 win over Italy as coach Montse Tome made several changes to her side, Bonmati has stepped up in the knockout stages and when a moment of inspiration has been required. In the quarter-finals, there was her back-heel flick on the edge of the box to release Athenea del Castillo for Spain's breakthrough against Switzerland. Then, in the semi-finals, Bonmati split the narrow gap between Ann-Katrin Berger and her near post to send Spain through. Afterwards, Bonmati revealed how Spain had studied Berger's positioning and spotted that the goalkeeper had a tendency to step off her front post in anticipation of the pull-back. Bonmati only needed a second to recognise the situation unfolding in front of her as she let the ball run through her legs and span into the box; hurtling towards the byline, with Rebecca Knaak already committed to diving in, Bonmati did not even need to look up to know where the gap had opened up.
