Blackpool chief Ben Mansford hopes review brings positive change for football

The highly anticipated report, led by the Conservative MP and former sports minister Tracey Crouch, was commissioned this year in response to ongoing crises of governance.

It found that independent regulation was required to maintain the long-term sustainability of the sport in this country and stop English football lurching from “one crisis to another”.

Mansford previously expressed doubts as to whether this was the right approach. But speaking to The Gazette, he conceded it may be “the way forward” to ensure the crisis at Derby County, as well as recent examples at both Bury and Macclesfield Town, are avoided in future.

However, Mansford chose to focus on two of the review’s other recommendations: the parachute payments given to sides relegated from the Premier League and the redistribution of wealth.

Reflecting on the recent publication of the fan-led review, Mansford told The Gazette: “There were 120-odd pages, weren’t there?

“For me, it’s important there is a better redistribution of money into the game. That clearly is a big part of what is happening in relation to this review.

“The parachute payments do make the Championship more anti-competitive than a club like ours might wish it to be.

“I feel very lucky we’ve got a real togetherness at the club. We’ve got an owner who sees himself as a custodian, who really cares about the club and the town.

“My other board member, Brett Gerrity, obviously cares about the club and the town as well.

“We have a staff both on the football side and non-football side who are here because they really love the club or were born in the town.

“So I think while we won’t get everything right and we’ve got to keep improving, keep doing more and learning from any mistakes we make, a lot of what the fan-led review is about are things our supporters won’t have to worry about as long as this owner, this board and this staff are here.

“But I can see why what’s happened at Bury and Bolton, and what’s tragically happened with Derby and might continue, means an independent regulator may be the way forward.

“For me, a redistribution of the money and looking at the parachute payments is important.”

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