FAIR GAME
INDEX 2025

IN THE most comprehensive survey of men’s professional football in England, Fair Game have scored every football club in the Premier League, the EFL, the National League, the National League North and the National League South, across eight criteria:

  • Financial Sustainability;

  • Governance;

  • Transparency;

  • Fan Engagement;

  • Ethics;

  • Diversity;

  • Environment; and

  • Community Engagement.

Each of the criteria covered a range of different issues and were developed following extensive research and numerous conversations with the then Shadow Regulator to provide a best approximation of the standards required for football clubs in a new regulatory regime.

It took Fair Game’s team of 15 researchers four months to gather all the data accumulating a total of 22,000 datapoints.

In short, the Fair Game Index is the most comprehensive analysis of English men’s professional football and provides the best insight into how regulatory ready our national game is.

Fair Game believes to change football’s culture this ranking should be used to reward well-run clubs - simply put the higher they score the higher the share of football’s TV revenue they get.

Key findings

  • Just five of the 164 clubs assessed across English football’s top seven divisions are classed as regulatory ready - and only four in the top five divisions.

  • The five clubs are Brighton & Hove Albion, Cambridge United, Carlisle United, AFC Wimbledon and Bath City.

  • Only one in six clubs received any kind of award, whether that be Gold, Silver or Bronze. 

  • Fair Game clubs account for 11 of the 12 Gold, Silver or Bronze Awards outside the top two divisions. 

  • No Championship clubs received a Gold award and only one League One club reached that level. This reflects the financial cliff edges between the Premier League and the Championship, and the Championship and League One, with many clubs continuing to take more risks to reach a higher level and a larger payday. 

  • Overall, the 92 clubs in English football’s top four divisions are taking big financial risks, with nearly half of them (43) having less than one month’s cash reserve to cover their operating costs. 

  • There is a substantial drop off between League Two and the National League, reflecting their different regulatory regimes. Clubs in this division are likely to face a difficult adjustment to the regime established by the IFR and will need support to make that transition.            

  • The scores on governance suggest greatest attention is needed on Board Independence and Transparency, with no division hitting much above 50 in this area.    

  • Fan engagement scores suggest that the Regulator has some existing foundations to build on to set minimum standards, but progress in establishing mechanisms for dialogue needs to be matched by clubs sharing information with fans in a way that will build trust.         

  • Transparency ratings are substantially weaker in all divisions for governance than for finance.       

  • Scores for club value areas (Ethics, Environment, Diversity and Community Engagement) tend to be weaker in most divisions than the core areas, particularly for the first two categories. These areas are currently less regulated, which suggests that significant support, information and guidance will be needed to achieve progress. It also shows that clear regulation and expectations tends to inspire organisations to act.  

  • Even amongst the largest clubs, there is little evidence of a strategic approach to environmental issues. For example, only eight Premier League clubs have targets and roadmaps for both Scope 1 and 2 and Scope 3 carbon emissions.

  • On ethics, exactly half (82) of the 164 clubs receive sponsorship from either gambling or alcohol-related companies. In the Premier League, 19 of the clubs take sponsorship money from both sources. 

Frequently Asked Questions

There are four parameters, what is the maximum score for each?

The four criteria are weighted: 40% financial measures; 30% governance; 20% equality and ethical standards; and 10% fan and community engagement. Each of the criteria is developed from dozens of touchpoints, creating the most comprehensive analysis of teams in the English and Scottish football pyramids. The weighting was settled on my Fair Game's team of experts. With clubs under constant financial peril, it was natural that this should be the category with the largest weighting. Governance is also important to underpinning the sustainability of a club. The equality strand has broadened to include ethics and environment. However, the Index is built on an ethos of constant improvement and the weighting will always be under review, notably we are currently developing research on both fan and community engagement.

What is the purpose of the Fair Game Index?

The Index aims to monitor the sustainability of football clubs by looking at their financial solvency, governance and equality and ethical standards, and fan and community engagement. We believe that it should be the starting point for the proposed State of Game Survey for the new independent regulator to assess the health of football.

How were the metrics put together?

Fair Game’s strength is based on extensive research. In each of the four strands, we have worked closely with clubs, supporters groups, leading academics and industry experts to analyse the issues and identify measurable and meaningful touchpoints. In some cases this has already led to published research notably on Owners and Directors Test, Environmental Sustainability, Good Governance, Gender Inequality, and football’s failed financial flow. Steve Radley project manages our research with help from several universities, while Adam Davis, lecturer at UCFB, and Joshua Price, director of Goal Assist help coordinate the data collection with the help of Rob Harrison from Ethical Consumer, who has extensive experience of auditing and creating business ratings.

So what is included in the strands?

Financial Sustainability includes 38 touchpoints and includes measures such as accounting, debt, ticket pricing and sponsorship. Good Governance draws on 55 different metrics and covers areas such as board structure, accountability and transparency. Equality and Ethical Standards has the most touchpoints - 106 - and covers a very broad range of topics from ethics to sexism, and from environmental impact to racism. Fan and Community Engagement has 30 touchpoints, including fan representation and community investment.

How could the Index help change the financial flow in football?

Football has operated in a gambling culture for decades, with owners encouraged to overspend caught by the Siren Call of the Premier League. It is a game of Russian Roulette with the history and traditions of clubs at stake.

Fair Game believe football should reward well-run clubs, and incentivise clubs to change. Football’s financial flow should be based on those that score well on financial measures, good governance, equality standards and fan and community engagement.

Fair Game’s experts have developed a prototype model on how this could work and it is explained here. The model is based on three fundamental principles developed by our team of financial experts:

  • Parachute payments are flawed and must be abolished

  • The EFL’s current distribution model (80% of revenue received from Premier League TV revenues goes to Championship clubs, 12% to League One, and 8% to League Two) is also flawed 

  • Football needs to reward well-run clubs