Jonathan Castleman

Fair Game UK's conference on Tuesday was full of thought-provoking sessions and a great opportunity to meet and mix with a wide range of football people concerned about the future governance and financial sustainability of the beautiful game. Particular highlights for me were: ⚽ Hearing from interim COO of the Independent Football Regulator Martyn Henderson talk about what his organisation will and, as importantly, won't, have powers to do once established under the Football Governance Bill going through parliament ⚽ CEO Niall Couper's impassioned exposition of the eight key issues Fair Game UK believe still need to be addressed under the Bill - with support from Fair Game's legal expert Simon Orriss of Mills & Reeve. ⚽ Presentations by Aaryaman Banerji of the Civitas Think Tank, and Dr Mark Middling and Dr Lisa J. Ferguson of Northumbria University on the need for better governance and ownership models in English professional football. ⚽ Being able to hold AFC Wimbledon's official replica of the FA Cup trophy their predecessor club won in 1988 beating Liverpool Football Club 1-0 at Wembley - a game I went to as a Liverpool fan. ⚽ Seeing the amazing ground and facilities AFC Wimbledon have built at the old Plough Lane site, developed and financed primarily by their fans as one of the very few community owned clubs in the English men's league pyramid. ⚽ Representing LCP at the conference, along with colleagues John Parnis England and Ashley Mould, and our friend and associate, EDI expert Buki Mosaku - and discussing with many conference attendees how we can use our expertise to support better football finance and governance. With yesterday's news of an election on 4 July, will the Bill come into force before then? It looks unlikely, with parliament being dissolved on 30 May - but with broad cross-party consensus in support of its provisions, it looks certain to be adopted at some point in the next year or so. #fairgameuk #footballgovernance #financialsustainability

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Really enjoying the Connectd course after finishing the SmartNED and Understanding boardroom finance modules (1 more to go). It's a refreshing insight into some alternative and suggested strategies to supporting both start-ups and established companies.

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Brace yourselves for a seismic shift in UK football fan engagement. Yesterday, the UK government revived plans for a new football regulator in England, by promising to reintroduce the Football Governance Bill. (Something introduced during the Sunak premiership yet unclear if it would be carried through with the new Labour government despite being in their manifesto) This bill will attempt to redefine the entire football experience for every fan and their relationship with their club. The question is are most clubs and leagues ready for the revolution? Quite simply, no. This landmark legislation aims to enhance the transparency, accountability, and sustainability of football clubs across the UK, ensuring that the beautiful game remains deeply rooted in its fan communities. One of the most significant aspects of this bill for me is its potential to unlock and transform in-venue fan engagement and monetisation, by giving lower league teams the ability to spend more on building their fan engagement strategies with a more even distribution of revenues received by the Premier League for instance. (The Premier League's revenue stood at £6.1billion in 2022/23). The bill will also mandate greater financial transparency by encouraging fan representation in decision-making processes and empowering supporters to have a stronger voice in the governance of their beloved clubs. In practical terms, clubs can leverage this increased fan involvement to develop more targeted and effective in-venue engagement strategies and activations and most importantly unlock further revenues. From improved stadium facilities, exclusive in-stadium and broadcast experiences to advanced digital services and real time engagement experiences - the opportunities are vast. Choosing the right solutions and strategies to do this are more essential than ever. Something i'm pleased to say Hypothesis Media are specialists in! 😎 As we look to the future, the Football Governance Bill represents a critical step towards building a more engaging and profitable football ecosystem (something that I hope follows suit for other sports leagues in time). As a long term champion of fan engagement for all clubs and teams at all levels. This signifies a huge step in getting all fans closer to the club whether they are a season ticket holder or a fan from the other side of the globe! It's now in the hands of the UK football clubs to start proactively working with specialist fan engagement consultancies who understand the right engagement tools and strategies to empower them for revolution that this bill will foster. https://lnkd.in/eJ44Nq29 #FanEngagement #UKFootball #SportsManagement #StadiumExperience #RevenueGrowth EFL (English Football League) The Famous Group

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What a business can learn from IPL? IPL season of 2024 just concluded on a lopsided final with KKR team emerging as the clear winner. Dynamics of leaderboard table was so topsy-turvy that it got dizzy at many points for fans of some teams. Media in the last week had to come up with so many possible situations on Team’s standing & who can qualify from the playoffs. It did spring up some surprises & it is worthwhile to learn from these 3 major takeaways from a business point of view: 1.Laggards can be leaders RCB team was clearly ruled out as losers in the midst of the IPL tournament. Memes started springing up displaying RCB in poor light. RCB was consistently featuring last in the standings. Team came back with all vengeance and won over 6 matches in a row to clinch back its position for the playoffs. Outstanding display of team’s spirit and star player’s contributions pushed it up the league table leading up to the playoffs. LEARNINGS – Spirit of the team matters. A business can bloom even from its nadir if the team believes in itself and put their best foot forward. 2.Overconfidence Kills Last year’s IPL Champions CSK started off as clear favourites to lead the table & eventually to clinch the IPL title. Team had successful outings initially but seemed overconfident in the middle of the tournament. Few easy matches were lost and that put up the team on the fence towards playoffs. With 67% favouring CSK in the final decider league match against RCB (26% chance of playoffs), the team lost by a huge margin. Thus, losing its playoffs position to the RCB eventually. LEARNINGS – Never underestimate your environment or the competition. Never go by statistical projections of odds. Play to win being aware of all external conditions & internal weaknesses. 3.Toughness under Pressure Here is a team touted to be the winner from start of the season. This team had chased a score of 166 runs under 10 overs to win a league match. This team had all the stalwarts firing up. Yet in the final match vs KKR (leaderboard topper), SRH buckled under pressure. All the leading batsmen were dismissed for single digits. While they struggled to go past 100 runs (team total), bowlers had to chip in with the bat. Eventually, KKR crushed SRK to a massive victory, a new IPL record. LEARNINGS – Mental toughness during times of distress is critical for a business leadership team to win a market. Inspite of past laurels garnered over a period, a business can flounder if it can’t survive past the critical moments. #brand #ipl #marketing #business #entrepreneurship #brandmarketing #d2c #d2cindia #sportsmarketing #cricket #businessskills

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In the wake of my post this week on the relationship between #padel and the LTA, can I ask any stakeholders in the UK padel scene who would like to contribute to as well as share their views and experience on the interplay between the sport and the LTA to get in contact with me (publicly or privately). At this stage I want to collect names and understand and coordinate views, whether positive or negative, what should continue, what should change, objectives, timelines, limitations etc. I will try to then coordinate a forum based on that intel to really fine tune the feelings of the group. Ideally we can end that phase with a decision on next steps and any meeting with the LTA. As an aside, if anyone (not necessarily from within padel) has experience of building and standing up a #nationalgoverningbody #NGB in the UK, how to work constructively with UK Sport and Sport England and the relevant #InternationalFederation #IF etc that perspective could be really useful as well. Finally, if you read this and feel someone else should be made aware of this, please feel free to repost or forward.

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Great to see some of Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and University of Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre work presented here. Supporting and optimising the wellbeing of an organisation clearly reaps reward in multiple ways to suit all stakeholders: individual happiness, team performance and (whilst not necessarily always my motivator) bottom line. #wellbeing

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Did you know…Seventy-seven percent of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place, while 73 percent of investors state that efforts to improve the environment and society contribute to their investment decisions.   Goalball UK combines elite level Paralympic sport, featuring a desire to succeed on the global stage, with a truly inclusive option for those who are often excluded from physical activity and being in a team at school or within local community sports and recreational activities. Whilst we strive to succeed as a nation on the world stage, for many of our players and athletes their ‘medals’ are won each day as they increasingly live independent, confident lives.  Only 11% of people with a Visual Impairment (VI) participate in 30 minutes of physical activity weekly, compared with 39% of the general population. This situation perpetuates issues around physical and mental health, social isolation in the VI community. For the last decade, Goalball UK has worked at the heart of this community, the largest disability cohort, providing transformational opportunities to experience the challenge and joy of sport.  We are the recognised governing body for the sport in the UK. However, our work goes much further than the remit of many sports bodies.  We enable introversion to be replaced by a desire and ability to engage with their community and beyond - a powerful antidote at the best of times. However, in a post pandemic world many activities for the disabled have been erased. Goalball enables our players to live independent lives. For example, diary management and travelling on public transport to training and international competitions, whether alone or in a group, boosts confidence. Whilst other skills such as ‘sweeping’ rather than ‘pinpoint’ techniques developed to find the ball also translate to and enhance the ability to locate domestic items at home. The net effect is that many previously protective families relax and embrace this newly acquired freedom.  The format of the sport also enables community cohesion with sighted people able to be part of playing and training. Siblings, family, and friends can provide practical and emotional support simply by wearing eye shades, allowing them to truly appreciate the unique challenges faced by the players.  We have a decade of anecdotal evidence of the profound impact goalball has on the lives of our players and their families, and now we have the systematic research to prove this. According to independent analysis conducted by York St John University in 2020, we deliver a truly impressive Social Return on Investment of £4.31 for each £1 invested.   We combine elite level Paralympic sport, featuring a desire to succeed on the global stage, with a truly inclusive option for those who are often excluded from physical activity and being in a team at school or within local community sports and recreational activities.  #PleaseShare #Inclusion  

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The England Men's national team really does seem to follow a public sentiment and media hype cycle. With the tournament impending, media interest triggers England fever... the team could go all the way. With a win under the belt, belief sets in. An over-indulgence in Three Lions puff. World-class. The nation chants it's coming home. A disappointing performance ensues. Results may fail to meet those high expectations. Hope is punctured, interest wanes. We enter the trough of disillusionment. But results do go the right way, there's progression. There's cautious optimism in the air until a recalibration of performance expectations reestablishes itself. The speed at which this cycle develops differs from tournament to tournament, but it is observed. As with the original Gartner Technology version, no perspectives are offered on how we accelerate through the cycle from one phase to the next (more positive) phase of sentiment, but I'd love to hear them. Or maybe we shouldn't be asking that question at all. It's the purity of sport. That jeopardy and wave of emotion is what makes us all tune in. It's why professional sport and elite level football keeps us coming back for more.

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This is a great read. Redtorch Strategy Director Chris Argyle-Robinson explores the question: Are sports organisations too focused on the now? Quick wins like ticket sales and engagement are crucial but what about tomorrow’s fans? Sport has two big jobs: 1️⃣ Converting today’s demand. 2️⃣ Building tomorrow’s. I had a conversation the other day when the person I was speaking with described a massive challenge in sports marketing: sport doesn't get 'brand' and it's role in delivering marketing effectiveness. Have a read: https://lnkd.in/eT2EbfjS

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Mindset, Values and Beliefs! This is another wonderful example of the benefit of a positive mindset, values, beliefs, perseverance, dedication, determination, commitment, sacrifice..... and many other deserving complimentary descriptors, all of which are educated assumptions as I don't know Bryony Page OLY personally. Given the work Integral Leadership Dynamics - Inspire, Lead, Deliver partners on with several organizational individuals and teams globally, I believe some of these positive attributes, behaviors, characteristics and ways of being, might have been adopted by Bryony at some point in her professional sporting career. Whatever they were, and only Bryony Page OLY could tell us, I imagine these have served her well and played a significant part in her truly amazing achievements to progress from Olympic Bronze, to Silver, to Gold in three consecutive games, where so many others have and could sadly fade away..... At some point, as we shift from "good to great", it becomes less about our physical conditioning, skills and experience and more about our mindset, values and beliefs. Well done Bryony Page OLY, on your fantastic achievement at the Paris 2024 - Comité d'organisation des Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques de 2024. 👏 👏 👏 "How can I expand my focus on skill, knowledge and experience to embrace the significant benefits of an effective mindset, positive values and helpful beliefs?" #mindset #values #beliefs #passion #commitment #determination #perseverance #dedication #determination #sacrifice

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𝐔𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Over the weekend, you may of seen a different shaped Trophy being lifted by Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing & Red Bull Technology at the Chinese GP. Traditionally we think of trophies as a base and a body (Cup, Statue or Column), however Lenovo took to the stage with a technologically advanced trophy blending design with modern interactive features. 🐉 The trophy combined traditional Chinese symbols and a design inspired by dragon imagery 💻 The trophy provided an interactive experience, through sensors that activated various lighting modes during the award ceremony. These modes included: ⭕️ Chase a loop: simulating the high speed of F1 cars on the track 🏎 Spin around the trophy: representing the spin of car wheels ☯️ Revolve: Symbolizing the balance of yin and yang 🌬️ Pulse: Emulating the powerful breath of a waking dragon. The trophy was developed in a collaboration between Lenovo & Pininfarina as well as looking great it had a meaningful purpose. Philip Marchington, Executive Creative Director of Corporate Marketing said “𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑐 𝐹1 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦. 𝐼𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒.” #SportQuake #Sponsorship #Innovation #F1 #Insights

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TEAMcard and Silverstone Circuit agree new expanded venue-wide partnership Silverstone Circuit, the home of British motorsport and host venue to the Formula 1 British Grand Prix has renewed with TEAMcard in an expanded agreement that will cover access control, accreditation, visitor management and verification services for the entire 155-acre site. Silverstone partnered with TEAMcard for venue access control in 2021, setting the foundations for a successful partnership that saw two record-breaking summers for racing fans entering the circuit. Matthew Evans, Business Systems Manager at Silverstone, said: "Working with TEAMcard has been a real game-changer for us. We have a whole host of different events that take place across the year attracting all sizes of crowds, from domestic race meetings to major events like Silverstone Festival, MotoGP and Formula 1. Regardless of the event size, the TEAMcard access control solution works seamlessly every time – we know we can really trust it." Now moving towards a third year in partnership, Silverstone have expanded their relationship with TEAMcard by activating the use of additional modules in the TEAMcard product stack – Accreditation, Visitor Management and Verification. These new modules will allow Silverstone to organise, manage and record the movements of every person arriving at the circuit, 365 days a year from a single system. Mike McEachern, Head of IT at Silverstone, said: "Working closely with everyone at TEAMcard has allowed us to better understand the wider product stack, and how their other solutions could work alongside access control to benefit our whole business. Stacking other modules like accreditation, visitor management and verification is allowing us to streamline more processes, collect better data and create better customer experiences across the board." For the full story, go to: https://lnkd.in/ervmHCmi #accesscontrol #accreditation #eventindustry #eventsindustry #eventmanagement #formula1 #f1 #sportbiz #sportsbiz #sportsindustry #Silverstone Daniel Huson Lee Howkins James Holifield Stephane Bazire Ben Phillips Robert Byrne Victor Leitch Josh Whittaker-Vyse Jean-Francoys Brousseau #sportsvenuebusiness #sportsvenuebiz #svblive Sports Venue Business SVB LIVE Cassandra Calleja

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Congratulations to Wrexham AFC on securing back-to-back promotions. They're certainly not the first club to achieve this feat but very few will have garnered such interest. There will be many pointing to their Hollywood ownership and the argument that money talks. Of course it does, but there are countless examples of people who have been successful in other walks of life, bought clubs and lost a pile of money. What marks Wrexham's ownership out is the fact that they had a plan when they bought the club, they've thought laterally and have executed it brilliantly. Yes, profile helps, but there are further examples of celebrities who've bought into sports clubs and have done nothing to drive either the bottom line or on pitch performance. It's estimated that the Club's front of shirt partner United Airlines is paying 20-30x the League Two average. But they're not buying into sketchy media numbers from the odd game here and there and League Two highlights shows. They're buying into Disney+, the genius Ryan Reynolds (and Rob McIlhenny!) marketing machine, the Wrexham story and the increased interest levels beyond the club's core support. I had the pleasure of going to a game there last year and it's clear they're building something special: not only all of the above but a football club right at the heart of the community. They've made an otherwise forgotten town feel proud again and created a civic focal point. They’ve put Wrexham on the map. There are stories now of American companies looking to invest in the region, succeeding where successive Governments have failed. Of course not every club can secure their own docuseries (and frankly I think we've had enough) but rather than trying to talk down their success, others should be looking at the story and asking what they can learn from it. What unique assets do they own that could be better leveraged, what story could they tell that is unique to them, how could they create a more progressive commercial model that capitalises on it? We tend towards insularity and the lack of time afforded to strategic or creative thinking in between the relentless match-to-match, season-to-season model means we don't tend to think laterally but here is a case study that should be causing us all to stop and think. Bravo Wrexham.

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Despite having had a poor season, Manchester United beat Manchester City Football Club, one of their biggest rivals, to win the FA Cup for the 13th time. That's the main story today in most of the British sports media. Ultimately, that's what my job is - to tell a story that interests people. And to be honest, it doesn't matter how many reporters I know. If the story isn't interesting to their audience, they won't publish it. This is one of the main points I try to get across to CEOs of health-tech and sustainability startups because it is fundamental to successful PR. What story do you want your startup or company to tell?

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Weather plays as significant a role in golf economics in equatorial and temperate climates as in Northern and Southern Hemispheres that have severe winters. There is no shut down period in SE Asia with courses open 365 days a year. Lightning activity in countries like Singapore and Malaysia, deprive courses of a large number of rounds year around. The monsoon and typhoon seasons across SE Asia have an impact on the golf course which no amount of drainage can moderate and also take a significant number of rounds off the books for golf courses. There are reports of summer heat, already high in the region, increasing in recent years and now having an impact on the tolerance of even the most hardy heat tolerant local golfer. Tracking the economic impact of weather is vital and with the Climate Change modifying weather patterns and seasons, it is key for the industry. Sporting Insights has been tracking rounds on a quarterly basis in Great Britain for 5 years. The release of this information is eagerly awaited and has proven vital for the industry to communicate and plan forward. The Sporting Insights Rounds Monitor is easy to implement and can have a major impact on the ability of golf clubs in an area, a region or nationwide to see how they are performing vis a vis their peers and how external factors such as the weather are impacting their clubs and the industry. Please contact me at [email protected] for more information on how we can assist.

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My column: For the 2024 battle for the Governor’s Cup, the heat on both coaches is high https://lnkd.in/e2KdHB25

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Some great sessions at SportsPro Live this week. 🙌 Repeated themes throughout: authenticity + storytelling + fan engagement Highlights worth a watch: ✍ Mark Kirkham, Sally Moore and Nadia Kokni speaking insightfully about the shift from eyeballs to engagement in sports marketing. Gemma Woor, Queenie Porter and Ellie Norman demonstrating the importance of authenticity in partnership activation. And Amar Singh, Arthur Guisasola, Shebahn Aherne and Mark Goldbridge discussing the need to embrace new media platforms for storytelling and engagement. 🤳 Congrats all. Enjoyed it. 👏 ☝ HOWEVER! Despite the diversity of programming, great speakers etc, it is surprising that there was no panel, debate or discussion about the rapidly changing world from an athlete’s perspective or those people who work in the space. 🤷‍♂️ There is no sport, or any of the above, without athletes. Athletes are rights holders too. Surely this should be a mandatory at every sport industry event? 😬 Even more surprising from a media organisation that publishes an ‘athlete marketability’ ranking every year. 👀 Regardless, great to meet some interesting people and familiar faces. 🙏 ---- #splive24 #sportsbiz #sportsmarketing #sponsorship #sportbiz

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🔥 🎤 Another cracker of an interview from High Performance. Anyone who knows this podcast understands why they are so great. Yes, this is a relatively big story in the sport of F1 but it goes way beyond that. The interviews are essentially psychological profiles that delve deeply into what motivates us. I'm not even a huge F1 fan but every one of these interviews is a gold mine that poses some pretty universally important questions: ✔️What motivates us? ✔️When should we make important career moves? ✔️Why should we seek out new challenges? ✔️How can we get the balance right between work and family life? Keep up the great work High Performance 👍 https://lnkd.in/dPwdmaCT #awesomepodcasts #motivation #uniqueinsights

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The volunteer football governance campaign group I co-chaired between 2020-2024 "The People's FA". At the heart of our proposals was the total control The Premier League have over the The Football Association governance. On all professional matters within the FA, its the PL that control the shots, within the main board, the Professional Game Board (PGB) and it's committees, including the FA Challenge Cup committee. The FA does not have the independence. During the #Fanledreview we were one of three campaign groups referenced in the final report alongside Fair Game UK and Gary Neville - beautiful game group. We submitted significant research that at the heart of English Football governance is the direct control the PL have within the FA and this core problem needs to be unravelled. But it goes further and remember its the The Premier League which also directly fund the Football Supporters'​ Association, League Managers Association, the Professional Footballers'​ Association, Kick It Out. In addition to the impasse with the EFL (English Football League) on financial distribution of broadcast and media rights. Also the The Premier League are the only league in Europe to govern the most significant investments in football facilities/grassroots, ie the Football Foundation. Again this is all about control of the different organisations who should be independent. The decision on FA Cup replays is another clear reason why the PL powers and remit needs to be curtailed and where a modern and independent The Football Association should be put in place. A core submission to the fan led review was for the FA to come under the freedom of information act and a public body. https://lnkd.in/esVHN8mb With the "Independent Regulator" coming to fruition, would it have the remit to change the above decision?. No. The Independent regulator "Fan Led Review", main remit is the sustainability and financial sustainability of lower league clubs. It has currently missed the opportunity. It needs an Independent regulator with teeth. Grimsby Town Football Club statement: https://lnkd.in/es6Jy32h Jason Stockwood https://lnkd.in/e9mu__3P Tranmere Rovers FC https://lnkd.in/eqxX-RVe. Darragh MacAnthony Peterborough United Football Club https://lnkd.in/eNZ5euub Exeter City Supporters' Trust In 2015 my club Cambridge United Football Club drew at home Manchester United, the replay was at old trafford. That income was significant, let alone the memories of fans. Niall Couper Kieran Maguire Adam Leventhal Dan Roan https://lnkd.in/euVAJD8B

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