Creating rules that are truly Fit and Proper

Fair Game’s third principle is that of transparency, specifically when it comes to football governance.

Adam Harwood

It’s now been 17 years since the Premier League, Scottish Premier League, Football League and National League jointly introduced the Fit and Proper Person test.

Rebranded (more accurately) to the ‘Owners and Directors Test’ ten years ago, the test aimed to put an end to the fact that anyone – butcher, baker, candlestick maker, or more often criminal – could takeover a football club if the money was right.

In the years since, we’ve seen a multitude of football governance issues. Rich clubs playing foul through financial incentives and bungs. Poorer clubs being held to ransom by owners and losing their home or suffering points deductions for realising administration. Even poorer clubs ultimately going to the wall.

Bury, Chester City, Hereford United, Rushden and Diamonds, Boston United and Macclesfield Town are just some of the former EFL clubs that have lost their existence in its original form, let alone their league position, in the years since the test came in. And they represent some of the extreme outliers – the clubs that have lost everything. Many more have suffered the indignity of points losses and unnecessary relegations as a direct result of poor ownership.

And yet, in all that time, how often has the Fit and Proper Person’s Test used its full force?

As it goes, just four.

A Rotherham United director, Dennis Coleman, failed the test in 2008 after the club entered administration for a second time. He wasn’t even the owner of the club.

The first owner to fall foul of the test was Stephen Vaughan at Chester City, when he was disqualified from being a director at any company after being convicted of VAT fraud. Control of the club was transferred to his son, and the club folded two years later.

The test was applied in Scotland for the only time in 2012, when an enquiry found that Rangers’ Craig Whyte was not a ‘fit and proper’ person. The club effectively folded anyway, starting again as a new company with the consequence of a triple-relegation to SPFL Scottish League Two.

Finally, the test put pay to any chance of former One Direction member buying Doncaster Rovers, as his business partner John Ryan was found to not have the necessary finances in place.

And that’s it. Four times the test has found some reason to block an owner, director, or prospective owner – and even then, on two occasions the club collapsed regardless.

Fair Game’s third principle is that of transparency, specifically when it comes to football governance.

We call on far more stringent measures applied not just by the football authorities, but also by the Government and other key decision makers.

We call for more independent regulation – not at the point where clubs are on the verge of collapse, but far earlier – with clear processes in place to deal with dispute resolution, auditing and arbitration.

The current Owners and Directors Test feels too much like a tickbox exercise, essentially asking whether people have the cash available, if they have interests in other clubs and football administrations. We call on clearer rules and regulations that all clubs adhere to, with enforceable penalties for transgressions.

 This would create a fairer system, properly penalising those who fall foul and ensuring that all owners have their clubs interests, as well as the wider football system, at heart.

Fair Game is holding a open panel and discussion on the structure of football. The discussion is an essential part of Fair Game’s process in developing real and long-lasting solutions to the problems facing football. You can register to take part in the sessions by visiting the events section of our website www.fairgameuk.org