MK Dons welcomes the reveal of the White Paper and the Government’s plans to legislate on football governance.
The long-awaited White Paper has set out the Government’s plans to legislate on football governance issues following the recommendations of the Fan Led Review chaired by Tracey Crouch MP.
This includes the creation of an independent statutory regulator for football and a number of other reforms.
The EFL has been engaged in discussions with the Government on these issues, as have clubs who have had regular dialogue with their local MPs.
Earlier this month, the EFL held a series of regional meetings in Parliament at which clubs were invited to attend along with their local MPs - Milton Keynes MPs Iain Stewart and Ben Everitt were among those in attendance and they indicated their support for reform of the game’s financial and regulatory model.
The EFL is the only one of the three football authorities to have supported the Fan Led Review’s key recommendations and welcomed the Government’s response published in April 2022.
In a statement, the EFL said: “The EFL has been clear that the English game needs a fundamental financial reset in order make the game sustainable so that all Clubs can continue to serve their supporters and communities long into the future.
“After an extensive period of consultation, the EFL is therefore pleased to note that the Government’s announcement regarding an Independent Regulator proposes to “oversee the financial sustainability of the game” and we welcome that a Regulator will have “targeted powers of last resort to intervene and facilitate an agreement as and when necessary”, should football be unable to find a funding agreement that safeguards the future of our pyramid for the long term.
“Going hand-in-hand with financial reform, the League is supportive of proposals relating to enhanced regulation and looks forward to consulting with Government on matters including Club Licensing, the Owners and Directors Test and heritage protection in the period ahead.
“A landmark moment for the future of our game, we now await to review the White Paper in its entirety and will consider our position in full. The Fan Led Review White Paper represents a once in a generation opportunity that must be seized to address the systemic issues that football has been unable to sort itself over the last 30 years.”
For its part, MK Dons will continue to support the push for reforms that will protect our club, the football pyramid and our community for generations to come.
The Club recently introduced an official Supporters’ Board, which aims to provides an open, transparent and independent dialogue with the Club and its supporters on all Club issues and supporters’ match day experience.
