The Independent Football Regulator: Challenge or opportunity?
LCP-hosted event in Central London with panellists from the Regulator, football clubs, leagues, and the Football Supporters Association (FSA) along with finance, legal and media industry experts.
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The Independent Football Regulator: Challenge or opportunity?
In April 2021, following the attempted European Super League breakaway and broader financial pressures in English football, the government commissioned the Fan-Led Review. Nearly five years on, its main recommendations are now taking shape.
Most notably, the top five tiers of the men’s game are now subject to the new Independent Football Regulator, established to safeguard football’s financial sustainability and cultural heritage. The path to independent regulation has been complex, and the idea of an external regulator continues to attract both strong support and criticism.
As the Regulator begins its work, LCP is engaging with stakeholders across the game to understand emerging views on its direction and to assess whether the new framework represents a challenge, an opportunity, or both.
Agenda
4:30pm - Arrival & networking
4:45pm - Introduction by Aaryaman Banerji (Head of Football Governance at LCP);
5:00pm - Panel sessions with industry experts (see below)
7:15pm - Conclusions by Bart Huby (Head of Sport Analytics and Advisory) followed by networking over drinks and canapes
Panel chairs: Steve Webb (LCP Partner, former Minister for Pensions), Adrian Goldberg (Journalist & broadcaster) and Ashley Mould (Principal, Sport Analytics and Advisory at LCP).
Who should attend?
Football club executives and advisers with responsibilities for governance, finance and operations. Anyone interested in how the new football regulator will impact the men's club game in this country.
Adrian Goldberg
A journalist and broadcaster well known for his football-related work, including co-hosting the “Where’s the Money Gone?” football business podcast and authoring the book “Where’s the Money Gone? – the Battle for the Soul of English Football”.
Bill Bush CBE
Spent 19 years at the Premier League (2005-2025) as an Executive Director and Senior Advisor. He has also served as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (1991-2001) and to the Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (2001-2005).
Chris Anderson
Chris is an award-winning sports lawyer with over 18 years’ experience across football, rugby and cricket. Now Head of Regulatory Affairs at City Football Group, he led the Government's Fan-Led Review of Football Governance in 2021. Its widely praised recommendations underpin the creation of the Independent Football Regulator.
Christina Philippou
Associate Professor in Accounting and Sport Finance at the University of Portsmouth. Christina’s football finance research has been used by the UK government to support reform. She has worked with the Premier League and LMA, and is an independent non-executive Director of the RAF FA.
David Riley
General Counsel at the Independent Football Regulator. David is a competition law, regulatory and public law expert, and a former Director at the Competition and Markets Authority. Previously, he worked in the mergers and antitrust team at Kirkland & Ellis LLP and in Sky's in-house competition law team.
Miguel Delaney
Award-winning football writer and Chief Football Writer at The Independent
His first book, ‘States of Play’, looked at the politicisation of football and won Football Book of the Year at the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book of the Year Awards.
Nick De Marco KC
Ranked as one of the top lawyers in sport. He is recognised as the foremost expert in football regulatory issues and is author and editor of ‘Football and the Law’ as well as a number of other sports law works.
Patrick Davis
Head of UK Corporate Governance Services at Law Debenture (LawDeb). Patrick is co-author of the recent "Football Governance in Transition" research paper published jointly by LCP and LawDeb, and has contributed to IFR consultation responses on governance. He is also a longstanding West Ham fan.
Phil Alexander
Chief Executive Officer, National League
Phil has been involved in the football industry for over forty years, first as a professional player, and later as Chief Executive of Crystal Palace and Bristol City.
Tim Greenwell
Solicitor at global law firm Squire Patton Boggs working across all areas of their sports division. Prior to joining SPB, Tim worked as Director of Legal and COO at Southampton FC for ten seasons. He sat on the club’s men’s and women’s boards, and worked closely with the FA, Premier League and EFL.
Tom Greatrex
Chair of the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) and a supporter representative member of the FA Council. Outside of football, Tom is Chief Executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, and was previously a Member of Parliament.
Tom Markham
Tom is a football finance and M&A specialist and the Principal of Markham Capital & Sports Advisory. Previously Head of Football Clients at PwC EMEA he wrote UEFA’s inaugural FFP reports. He holds a PhD in Football Finance and created the Markham Multivariate Model widely used for football club valuation
Zoe Webber
Executive Director at Norwich City with over twenty years’ experience in the football industry. Zoe is on the EFL board as Championship club representative and is also on the board of Women in Football. She has previously worked at the Premier League, Liverpool FC and Fulham FC.