Latest news with #FootballGovernanceBill
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Relief at 'new era' for Reading FC as club is sold to fresh owner
In this monthly letter, Yuan Yang, the Labour MP for Earley and Woodley, celebrates the news that Reading FC has been sold. The stadium is in her constituency. Ms Yang writes: "We've got our Reading back!' That was the chant at the last match of the season on the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. After two years of fan protests, points deductions, winding-up petitions, unpaid wages, parliamentary lobbying and constant worry about the future of the club, Reading Football Club is finally being sold to a new owner! The sale represents the chance for a new era at Reading. The club's development must now come with a more sustainable business model – the 'Reading Way' of previous decades. The new buyer, Rob Couhig, has a track record of doing this. Wycombe fans agree that he left their club in a better place than he found it. I look forward to working with Mr. Couhig to ensure that fans' voices are heard and that the club becomes community-focused once again. I've been joking with the fans I've worked with at Sell Before We Dai and the Supporters' Trust At Reading that we won't know what to do with our time now we're no longer worrying about ownership 24/7. I can definitely say my parliamentary staff and I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we won't be having more late-night phone conferences on this particular topic! But I already know there's a lot I want to do to ensure the distress suffered by Reading fans can never be allowed to happen again. No football club should need their MPs to make repeated interventions in Parliament, lobby government ministers, or gather 10,000 signatures on a petition, just to fight for their survival; we need to have stronger rules against absent and neglectful owners. The Football Governance Bill is currently making its way through Parliament, and I am confident that this will start to fix football's governance problem. The 'New Ownership Test' and the new licensing rules within the Bill would have been so helpful when Dai Yongge was buying the club. I look forward to the Bill becoming law, as well as the new Independent Football Regulator starting their work. Football is a huge part of British life and shouldn't be used to manage the debt, or service the assets, of distant billionaires with no presence at the clubs they buy. Clubs must once again serve the communities that they are part of. The future is bright for Reading FC – after an incredible season on the pitch, I can't wait to see how we do under better ownership next year. And while we rightly celebrate the performance of the men's team; we shouldn't forget about the parts of the club that receive less media coverage. The Reading Football Club Community Trust do brilliant work, and I've seen first-hand their impact on young people through community 'kick sessions' and educational provision. It's vital that they have the resources to continue this work. It is also important to ensure that the women's team is properly funded and can start to climb the divisions again after they withdrew from the women's Championship last year.
Spectator
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Football's beer ban makes no sense
Should football fans be allowed to have a pint in the stands during a game? Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, certainly thinks so, and is calling for trials to see what impact lifting the ban on booze in the stands might have. 'The days of hooliganism are gone', he said. 'Fans of other sports can drink in the stands but football fans cannot.' The Labour backbencher raised the issue in the House of Commons during a debate on the Football Governance Bill, proposing designated drinking zones in view of the pitch as a potential way forward. He says it is all about allowing fans who want to drink the 'chance to do so responsibly' and that it is an opportunity to give back to fans who support their teams loyally. The Football Supporters' Association has given its backing to allocated drinking zone trials, pointing out: 'In the past, this is actually something many clubs have called for too.' Charters is no revolutionary – just someone who wants to prompt a wider debate.
South Wales Guardian
09-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
David Kogan endorsed to chair football regulator but urged to act ‘impartially'
Kogan told MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport committee on Wednesday that he donated to the Labour leadership campaigns of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in 2020, and has also made financial contributions to other members of the party. He insisted despite those connections to Labour he was not 'susceptible to political pressure'. A release published on Friday morning alongside the committee's report on Kogan stated: 'The committee recognises Mr Kogan's vast experience in the football and media sectors. 'It however recommends that he takes concrete steps to reassure the football community that he will act impartially and in a politically neutral way, following his disclosure during the meeting of past donations to the Prime Minister and Culture Secretary.' Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said: 'While Mr Kogan's background and experience make him well suited for the role, his past donations to the Labour Party will inevitably leave him open to charges of political bias in a job where independence is paramount. 'We want to see the new independent football regulator succeed, so it's crucial that nothing undermines the regulator as it gets up and running. 'Mr Kogan must give 110 per cent when it comes to reassuring everyone in the game that he is his own man. The committee looks forward to working with him constructively and holding him to account.' Kogan was announced as the Government's preferred candidate last month. He has negotiated television rights deals on behalf of the Premier League, the EFL, the Women's Super League and UEFA in a 45-year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate advisor. The creation of the regulator is at the heart of the Football Governance Bill which is now at committee stage in the House of Commons. Its remit will primarily be to ensure the 116 clubs in the top five tiers of English football are financially sustainable and accountable to their fans under a licensing system. The regulator will also have 'backstop' powers to impose a financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL if they cannot agree one themselves. It will also produce a 'State of the Game' report analysing football's financial flows. Kogan pledged in a letter to the committee that he would not make any further donations 'to any political cause' if appointed as chair. He also confirmed that the 2020 donations to Starmer and Nandy were each under the £1500 declaration threshold. A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said: 'We have received the select committee's report following the pre-appointment scrutiny hearing. 'We will now consider its findings before outlining next steps on the chair in due course.'
North Wales Chronicle
09-05-2025
- Business
- North Wales Chronicle
David Kogan endorsed to chair football regulator but urged to act ‘impartially'
Kogan told MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport committee on Wednesday that he donated to the Labour leadership campaigns of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in 2020, and has also made financial contributions to other members of the party. He insisted despite those connections to Labour he was not 'susceptible to political pressure'. A release published on Friday morning alongside the committee's report on Kogan stated: 'The committee recognises Mr Kogan's vast experience in the football and media sectors. 'It however recommends that he takes concrete steps to reassure the football community that he will act impartially and in a politically neutral way, following his disclosure during the meeting of past donations to the Prime Minister and Culture Secretary.' Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said: 'While Mr Kogan's background and experience make him well suited for the role, his past donations to the Labour Party will inevitably leave him open to charges of political bias in a job where independence is paramount. 'We want to see the new independent football regulator succeed, so it's crucial that nothing undermines the regulator as it gets up and running. 'Mr Kogan must give 110 per cent when it comes to reassuring everyone in the game that he is his own man. The committee looks forward to working with him constructively and holding him to account.' Kogan was announced as the Government's preferred candidate last month. He has negotiated television rights deals on behalf of the Premier League, the EFL, the Women's Super League and UEFA in a 45-year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate advisor. The creation of the regulator is at the heart of the Football Governance Bill which is now at committee stage in the House of Commons. Its remit will primarily be to ensure the 116 clubs in the top five tiers of English football are financially sustainable and accountable to their fans under a licensing system. The regulator will also have 'backstop' powers to impose a financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL if they cannot agree one themselves. It will also produce a 'State of the Game' report analysing football's financial flows. Kogan pledged in a letter to the committee that he would not make any further donations 'to any political cause' if appointed as chair. He also confirmed that the 2020 donations to Starmer and Nandy were each under the £1500 declaration threshold.
South Wales Argus
09-05-2025
- Business
- South Wales Argus
David Kogan endorsed to chair football regulator but urged to act ‘impartially'
Kogan told MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport committee on Wednesday that he donated to the Labour leadership campaigns of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy in 2020, and has also made financial contributions to other members of the party. He insisted despite those connections to Labour he was not 'susceptible to political pressure'. A release published on Friday morning alongside the committee's report on Kogan stated: 'The committee recognises Mr Kogan's vast experience in the football and media sectors. Culture Media and Sport committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage, pictured, says David Kogan must demonstrate he is his own man (Handout from UK Parliament/PA) 'It however recommends that he takes concrete steps to reassure the football community that he will act impartially and in a politically neutral way, following his disclosure during the meeting of past donations to the Prime Minister and Culture Secretary.' Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage said: 'While Mr Kogan's background and experience make him well suited for the role, his past donations to the Labour Party will inevitably leave him open to charges of political bias in a job where independence is paramount. 'We want to see the new independent football regulator succeed, so it's crucial that nothing undermines the regulator as it gets up and running. 'Mr Kogan must give 110 per cent when it comes to reassuring everyone in the game that he is his own man. The committee looks forward to working with him constructively and holding him to account.' Kogan was announced as the Government's preferred candidate last month. He has negotiated television rights deals on behalf of the Premier League, the EFL, the Women's Super League and UEFA in a 45-year career as a media executive, business leader and corporate advisor. The creation of the regulator is at the heart of the Football Governance Bill which is now at committee stage in the House of Commons. Its remit will primarily be to ensure the 116 clubs in the top five tiers of English football are financially sustainable and accountable to their fans under a licensing system. The regulator will also have 'backstop' powers to impose a financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL if they cannot agree one themselves. It will also produce a 'State of the Game' report analysing football's financial flows. Kogan pledged in a letter to the committee that he would not make any further donations 'to any political cause' if appointed as chair. He also confirmed that the 2020 donations to Starmer and Nandy were each under the £1500 declaration threshold.
