Leeds United set to be assessed by new financial watchdog after government vote — Leeds Live 9/7/25

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Leeds United are far from the only club set to be impacted by the big change

Isaac Johnson

A new independent football regulator is set to become law after MPs voted in favour of backing the Football Governance Bill.

The watchdog will be separate of the government, which will hand the regulator powers to oversee the top five divisions of English football. Leeds United and 113 other clubs will come under its jurisdiction once the bill is ratified, which could happen in the coming months.

The purpose of the regulator will be to ensure clubs are run sustainably and are accountable to their fans, while also securing the financial footing of the domestic pyramid as a whole. It will furthermore aim to protect the heritage aspects of a club that matter most to supporters and local community.

The regulator will meanwhile possess ‘backstop’ powers to impose a financial sustenance agreement from the Premier League to the EFL, if a settlement cannot be agreed between them on their own accord.

A total of 415 MPs voted in favour of passing the regulator bill during a third reading session at the House of Commons on Tuesday. Only 98 objected to the framework.

A previous edition of the bill failed to pass under the previous Conservative government before Labour reintroduced a revised version in July last year after taking power.

A number of football club owners have spoken out against the bill over time, while Premier League chief Richard Masters has voiced concern, though has acknowledged he was “powerless” from preventing the regulator from being established.

"Football clubs are already regulated - we are the regulator," he argued in January.

“If you have a third party coming in from the side - and then regulating a part of the system financially by being to look at clubs' business plans and potentially constrain their ability to invest - that worries us. We have always been pro-investment within measured risks.

"So we do worry that a new regulatory function might be risk averse and might inhibit clubs' ability to invest, and the ability to invest is key to competitive imbalance.

"A new regulator could change that investment environment and we don't want that to happen because we think we have a virtuous circle which really works - we don't want that to change."

Meanwhile, a proposal to make it a necessity for 10 Premier League games to be shown free-to-air each season was voted down, as was a motion to start consultation on the reversal of the ban of alcohol in stands.

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