Karl McCartney: After England’s summer, safeguarding football governance should be a national priority | Conservative Home

Karl McCartney was the Conservative MP for Lincoln from 2010 to 2017, and 2019 to 2024. He was a member of the APPG for Football.

There was a moment late on during the European Championship final when England striker Ollie Watkins, already the star of the semi-final, had the chance to re-write the headlines again. Threaded through by Jude Bellingham, it was only a slightly heavy touch that took the ball away from him and allowed the Spanish defence to snuff out that potential opportunity.

Watkins’ personal development – from playing on loan at Weston-Super-Mare in the sixth tier of English football to terrorising Premier League defences and playing for England in a major final – represents a timely victory for the English Football League. His story, like that of Jamie Vardy before him, is a demonstration of the value and opportunities that smaller clubs bring to communities around the Country, to skillful – overlooked – individuals, and to the national game.

While celebrating the achievements of the England team, Keir Starmer used Sunday’s match, the Euro’s Final, to reinforce the Labour Government’s commitment to breaking down the “barriers of opportunity” in football.

Speaking after the game, Lisa Nandy said that the Football Governance Bill – whose progress into law was stunted by the timing of the recent General Election – was “a top priority”, promising “early action” from the Government.

While not without my concerns about this Bill, as an Officer of the Football APPG while in Parliament, and as a keen footballer, certainly in my late teens and early 20s, and a football fan (Tranmere Rovers, Liverpool, Lincoln) in my own right, bi-partisan support for this Bill should be welcomed, and I will continue to monitor the Bill with interest as it goes through both Houses.

Opportunities like those enjoyed by Watkins and Vardy will only come to new young players with support for grassroots football and the protection of middle-tier clubs.

While many smaller clubs are well-run, there are too many instances of mismanagement. Since Bradford City’s dissolution in 1983, there have been 105 cases of football clubs entering administration or company voluntary agreements (CVA’s) – most recently Torquay United in April this year. Given the unique role that clubs occupy in local communities as a specific source of identity and pride (such as is widely recognised in the City of Lincoln with the Mighty Imps of Lincoln City FC), this is unacceptable.

With concern for local communities and fans rightly at its centre, this Bill promises to protect clubs and improve governance standards. The introduction of a new football regulator, the strengthening of the fit and proper person test for owners and directors, more stringent financial reporting and auditing standards, and stricter regulations governing the conduct of owners and directors, must all be welcomed.

Some clubs have balked at some or other of these measures. Prominent ‘upper tier’ clubs claim that Government intervention would be “killing the golden goose” of the Premier League – with clubs already under increased strain and restrictions from Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). They doth protest too much. We know some Premier League Clubs have been found ‘wanting’ in recent years when it comes to governance and auditing standards.

But attacking any golden geese is far from the case. Many of these standards are already in place at the Country’s largest clubs; it is their smaller counterparts, in the lower leagues, which are more vulnerable to abuse and are under less scrutiny, where the impact of these new regulations will be felt most keenly.

Ollie Watkins’ first senior goal, for Weston-Super-Mare, came at one such club – Ebbsfleet United. Since 2013 the Kent side, which sits in the fifth tier of English football, has been owned by Abdullah Al Humaidi, a Kuwaiti businessman, whose conduct in a myriad of ways since then does not inspire confidence in Ebbsfleet’s future.

Riches from the Gulf have heralded new dawns for many clubs, but not at Ebbsfleet. Instead, the club – whose latest accounts (filed late) showed a £1.7 million loss and a further £6.6 million in liabilities – is teetering on the financial brink. Players have gone with wages being unpaid or paid late, at one point refusing to warm up for a game in protest. Humaidi’s response was to sign a commitment to pay on time, only to break it at the first opportunity.

This response would have been predicted by those who had encountered Humaidi in Kuwait, where he is currently facing a string of fraud convictions adding up to 25 years in prison, and is subject to an international arrest warrant. A Kuwaiti Court went as far as to say that Humaidi, “…always deludes his clients into investing in fictitious projects with the aim of stealing their money.”

In the UK, he was declared bankrupt in November 2023 after another company, London Resort Company Holdings – formed to build a theme park in Kent to rival Disneyland – went into administration.

Despite this bankruptcy and the convictions in Kuwait, Humaidi remains the owner of Ebbsfleet through a Kuwaiti company, with his brother on the Board. The new Football Governance Bill would give a new, empowered, football regulator the strength to ensure that individuals like Mr. Humaidi are not able to imperil such vital lower-league community assets.

English football is currently enjoying a period of success that has rarely been seen before. With the latest new government in its infancy, and beginning to put its feet well under the table, and a football frenzy and warm feeling from fans of the game over the summer, with hope and satisfaction at its zenith, it is imperative that this Government acts now to pass supporting measures to protect clubs from financial ruin and unethical ownership practices.

We must safeguard one of our country’s most valuable assets before it is too late so that future generations can also have their own Ollie Watkins and many others like him.