The Blues Trust have welcomed the forthcoming introduction of football's Independent Regulator so that more clubs in this country can begin to avoid the fate that Birmingham City have suffered at the hands of previous owners. In the King's Speech on Tuesday, it was confirmed that the Football Governance Bill will 'safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of communities and fans".
That will include a more stringent owner and directors' test as part of the plan, as well as involving supporters more in club decision making, both things Blues would've benefitted from when the club was sold both in turn to Carson Yeung in 2009 and then to Trillion Trophy Asia in 2016.
Blues, of course, were finally rid of TTA this past summer when Knighthead and Tom Wagner moved to complete a takeover, and work has already begun on enhancing and mending St Andrew's, while the new owners have already made their mark on the football side of things too, having installed Wayne Rooney as John Eustace's successor as manager, but the Regulator will hopefully be of support and a benefit to other clubs who are suffering and might suffer.
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"The work being carried out in the background by Blues Trust at the time of the FLR, highlighting the situation at Birmingham City, led to us being invited to meet with [former Minister for Sport] Tracey Crouch and her team," the Trust statement read. "At the meeting, it was clear that there was a significant alignment between our views and hers.
"At the time, Blues supporters were in desperate need of some way of challenging the governance of the club by the then owners. We are fortunate that the recent change in ownership at Blues is bringing about a different situation and we hope that will continue for some time to come. However, it is a commonly stated fact that players/managers/owners come and go – only the club and its fans remain forever.
"This is why the Blues Trust is delighted with the news announced in the King’s Speech and the proposed legislation, for the good of football in general, for those clubs less fortunate than us still dealing with poor owners and governance and as a back stop should we the club/fans ever find ourselves back in the situation we were in prior to the recent takeover."
You can read the statement in full here.
EFL chair Rick Parry today added: "We welcome the landmark commitment to the Football Governance Bill in the King's Speech and look forward to it being considered by Parliament in the period ahead.
"We have had many months of detailed engagement with DCMS and will continue to play our part in delivering legislation that is both fair and effective. The football pyramid matters. It is a unique strength of the English game and something that must be protected and nurtured."
