According to a group of football clubs advocating for more sustainability in the game, teams should be financially rewarded if they demonstrate good administration and communicate with their fans appropriately.
A new “sustainable index” compiled by Fair Game, an organization comprised of 34 EFL and non-league clubs, provides an alarming picture of the status of England’s top two divisions. The measure incorporates marks for financial stability, good governance, fan participation, and equality criteria.
A few weeks before the anticipated release of government plans for an independent regulator, only two Championship clubs and half of the Premier League are rated as “excellent.”
Fair Game intends to publish the index, the first version of which is the result of 18 months of effort, annually, and its chief executive officer, Niall Couper, believes its calculations should be incorporated into any future settlement struck by a new regulator.
“We believe that financial sustainability, strong governance, equality standards, and fan participation – all parts of the fan-led review – should be held in the highest respect in football, and not simply on-field performance,” Couper added. “They are the key to achieving long-term sustainability.
Good governance should pay
“Our ultimate goal is to build a system that financially rewards football clubs for good behavior.” The finest regulators in the country are those that incentivize positive behavior, which means they provide rewards. We have enormous resources pouring into the game. and we should begin to consider a method for dispersing monies to well-run clubs.
“If you achieve that, teams and fans would declare that this sustainability score is the one to strive for; not just because of what it measures, but also because it’s financially beneficial.”
Fair Game is a staunch supporter of the government’s fan-led reform of football governance and has successfully encouraged legislators to endorse the concept of a regulator. Its concerns are echoed by many MPs, but it will be more difficult to convince the game to adopt the suggestions.
English Football League
The Premier League and the English Football League are unable to reach an agreement on a new financial settlement for the professional game, as proposed by a fan-led assessment 15 months ago. The potential of a type of financial redistribution to EFL teams based in part on sports merit, similar to the Premier League, has been explored between the two organizations, although awards based on governance have not been addressed. Those close to the negotiations feel that few clubs would want this.
Liverpool is at the top of the Premier League sustainability rankings due to their strong governance score, which was derived using a weighted sum of values on ‘clear governance’, environmental indicators, and whether the club pays a living wage (Liverpool was the first Premier League club to commit to this in 2017). Nottingham Forest sits at the bottom of the Premier League table with a financial stability score of 1 out of 40.
In addition to wages as a percentage of revenue, assets, debt, and loans owed in the upcoming year are included in calculations of financial stability. According to the most recent financial figures provided by the club, Fair Game experts determined that Forest’s wage bill is comparable to 202% of revenue.
Norwich City led the Championship standings ahead of Burnley, the only clubs to achieve an overall score greater than 60, which was deemed by Fair Game’s panel of 40 experts to be an ‘excellent’ grade.
