Football regulator a ‘top priority’ says new Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy

New Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy says the creation of a new football regulator is “a top priority for me in this job”.

A Football Governance Bill, which would have brought the introduction of an independent regulator, ran out of time to pass through Parliament and become law when the general election was called.

But Labour committed to introducing a new regulator in its election manifesto.

And in an interview with the Manchester Evening News,, external Wigan MP Nandy said she wanted “to make sure that we put fans at the centre of the game again”.

Speaking at Gigg Lane, home of Bury FC, who were expelled from the Football League in 2019 when a takeover bid collapsed, Nandy said: “We’d almost got there before the general election and then we didn’t.

“And I know better than anyone what that inaction means for clubs, not just like Bury, but for Wigan Athletic as well, my own club that went into administration. We nearly lost it twice.”

The government’s plans for reforming football governance are expected to feature in next week’s King’s Speech.

“It’s personal for me,” Nandy said.

“Not only was my club Wigan Athletic at risk twice, but my step-dad was a season ticket holder here, a lifelong season ticket holder at Gigg Lane. We couldn’t care more, in my family, about this.

“So it’s going to be a top priority for us. I don’t want to pre-empt the King’s Speech, but it was a central part of our manifesto and it will be an essential part of my job to deliver on that and to deliver on it without delay,” she added.

The last government’s plans to appoint a regulator followed a fan-led review in 2022, which said a regulator was necessary for the long-term financial stability of the men’s professional game.

While widely welcomed by supporters, plans for a new regulator have been criticised by some club owners and the Premier League. Chief executive Richard Masters has warned it could threaten the league’s status as the most lucrative in the world.