Everton heavyweights back new supporters calling after Premier League disasters

A group of influential Everton supporters and high-profile figures including Andy Burnham and Peter Reid have launched a bid to put the fans at the heart of English football.

The Everton Fans Advisory Council and big names in politics and sport are calling for a new football governing body to increase transparency and fairness in the game, while allowing for greater fan representation in the corridors of power.

Their appeals follow a tumultuous season in which serious concerns about the Premier League’s oversight of the game have been exposed by the handling of controversial regulations and their application to Everton.

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Politicians today grilled Premier League chief executive Richard Masters and other key football figures as part of the final parliamentary hearings ahead of the introduction of a new football governance bill. Key topics included the league’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), which Everton have breached twice and suffered two separate points deductions this season as a result – unprecedented punishments that have put the club on the brink of relegation.

The Blues Fans’ Advisory Council has played a significant role in challenging these sanctions, arguing that they have a disproportionate impact on supporters and communities who rely on the health of local clubs. Their concerns were echoed by the likes of Greater Manchester mayor and Everton supporter Burnham Dame Sue Owen, who is former permanent secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and former Trade Union Congress boss Sir Brendan Barber.

Today the FAB, which plans to continue working with its counterparts at West Ham United, stepped up its efforts to influence the future of the game in favor of supporters by calling for a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to take full control of the PSR . and ensure that the rules do not “unduly penalize fans and ensure full involvement of fans in any sanctioning process”. The FAB is also calling for fan representation on the boards of the IFR and the Premier League, and for formal guidelines on supporter engagement to be developed. A key demand is for club officials to be banned from fan advisory boards set up to communicate with their team.

Dave Kelly, chairman of the Everton FAB, said: “It is the people of all clubs who have created the game we all love and this Bill is an opportunity to ensure we have a voice in decision-making about a sport that may not be our livelihood – but more than that, it is our lives. Game owners and administrators must remember that without fans, the game is diminished. We’re making it special.”

The new appeals also featured evidence to the committee overseeing the Football Governance Bill, whose co-signatories include Everton FAB, Barber, Burnham, Owen and Everton legend Reid.

In relation to PSR, they write: “Football supporters want a predictable, transparent, principled, proportionate, fair and timely system that enforces PSR rules. These qualities are partly reflected in the English Football League, but the chaos and confusion caused by the management of the PSR by the Premier League has proven that it is unable to meet these requirements.”

They add, as part of a plea for greater fan representation, that “it is essential that the IFR understands the perspectives of supporters and the implications that its work may have on them, football clubs, club employees and local communities over time that fulfills its duties. “.

Stressing the importance of today’s calls being heeded, Burnham added: “This goes beyond football. The game is part of a centuries-old cultural tradition channeled through sport that places aspiration at the heart of working communities in our towns and cities. how that tradition has been jeopardized by the Premier League’s handling of the current season. The lack of consistency and transparency in decision-making has severely damaged confidence in their ability to regulate the game fairly.

“It goes beyond the Northwest as well. Fans of any club should not have to pay the price of club mismanagement. I am delighted to support the FAB’s proposals which are sensible, practical and will bring more transparency about how profit and sustainability should be managed in the future and put supporters’ interests at the heart of decision-making at every level of the game.”