EFL to discuss new laws for incompetent owners

The footballing authorities have been criticised by supporters for not doing enough to prevent clubs like Blackpool, Leyton Orient and Coventry City suffering at the hands of their owners.

The EFL has been put under pressure to implement tighter controls - but the body says it currently has no power to intervene once an owner has passed the 'fit and proper persons' test.

But EFL chief executive Shaun Harvey says the EFL board — which consists of 10 directors, six of whom are divisional representatives elected by member clubs — will discuss whether the rules need changing.

Harvey told the Evening Standard: “I am certain over the coming months we will be looking at the relationship between the EFL and the club owners to see if there is anything the clubs think we will be doing to protect the reputation of our clubs and the league itself.

“It is something I am sure the board will want to look at.

"I think I would be very interested in having a debate as to what is possible for us to achieve. How far that goes will never be far enough for some.

"We have got to find the right level for doing that.

"We want to see good owners of football clubs running stable clubs where fans are able to enjoy the football. We are never going to achieve that across 72 clubs at the same time. What we have got to is get the majority to that position.

“I would never want to see another Orient. I do not think anyone is comfortable with the breakdown in relations at Coventry either.

"But you look at other clubs where the relationship could not be better.

"We have such a wide breadth of clubs and club owners so one size fits all will never work. What we have got to do is work on the extremes.”