Football fan review given unanimous support by Blackpool Council

Councillors unanimously backed a notice of motion put forward by Coun David Owen for the council to push for an independent regulator to be appointed for the game.

Coun Owen told a full council meeting pressure needed to be put on the authorities to speed up the current timeframe for a fan-led review of football governance.

He described the review as a "landmark in the future of our national game."

Coun Owen said while there was cross party political support for the review's findings, its journey through Parliament risked being slowed down.

He said fans from across the country "have watched powerlessly as their clubs have fallen into the abyss or teetered on the edge.

"Their experiences have all come together in the findings of the fan led review into the governance of football."

The council agreed the notice of motion instructing chief executive Neil Jack to write to Nigel Huddleston MP, in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, setting out the council’s hope that the White Paper can be published sooner.

Letters will also be sent to the Premier League, EFL and FA "urging them collectively to take notice of Recommendation 38 of the review and reach an agreement on how the television income received by the PL is to be far more equitably distributed within football than it is currently - rather than risk a clause in the promised Bill which will empower the intended regulator to impose such a regime on them."

Blackpool FC fans have taken part in the review following concerns over how the club was run under its previous owners the Oyston family, which led to some fans boycotting matches.