A JOINT statement from the Liverpool supporters’ union Spirit of Shankly (SOS) and the Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST) has urged the government to “strengthen the rules around who can own and run football clubs in England.”

A government white paper is due to be released in the coming months announcing the creation of an independent regulator in English football, and these two groups believe this regulation needs to go further than it is suggested it might, and be implemented more quickly.

New ownership at Liverpool and Manchester United is regularly being spoken of after Fenway Sports Group reiterated that they are open to outside investment in Liverpool and reports emerged that the Glazer family are willing to sell their full stake in United.

In a joint statement MUST CEO Duncan Drasdo, and SOS Chair Joe Blott, said: “By common consent, our clubs are the biggest in English football and, with a combined worldwide fanbase of over 200 million people, they are widely recognised global institutions – in fact perhaps two of the most well-known British institutions worldwide.

“That global profile will likely attract many potential bidders, including some whose primary motivations may not respect either the cultural heritage of our clubs or the values and interests of supporters.  We think that should be a matter of importance to the government.

“Just as the government would not allow our most important cultural or heritage assets to fall into unfit or improper hands, it should not allow our football clubs to do so either.”

This newspaper, via articles and the letters page, regularly broaches the issues at the top level of football which has become the playground of the rich owner or in some cases the rich state, almost all of whom will be linked to something bad, just with varying degrees of separation.

Though they are not lumped in with the so-called “sports washing” clubs such as Manchester City and Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester United themselves are certainly not immune to the negative aspects of billionaire ownership.

Their owners have been involved in controversies such as the Super League and raising ticket prices, the Glazers have links to Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the US, while both clubs have attracted a number of questionable sponsors. It is nigh on impossible for this level of money and investment to not be troublesome in some way.

Existing problematic ownership and sources of funding doesn’t mean future investments in these institutions or others like them cannot be held to account or warned against.

One solution for fans is to ditch top-flight football altogether and look to the lower levels of the game where some clubs are more in tune with their communities, supportive of them, practice the values they preach and in some cases offer supporter ownership shares.

But despite the obvious rotten elements of top-level football, it is still understandable that fans of top clubs, whose support often goes back many generations, want to hang on for as long as they can to an institution they will see as belonging to them and theirs, and not to whoever happens to be the current owner.

The permanency of their support defines these clubs, not the money, the owners, or the sponsors which will come and go. Fans want the cultural characteristics of their clubs to remain else they all become identikit football businesses with no character.

This is why many fans will look to put pressure on owners and organisations to ensure those entities are merely custodians rather than reshaping clubs or leagues for their own ends.

If they run them well, owners will make enough from the clubs as it is, whether in the form of profit, status, or resale value, without having to alter their character or foundation.

This is where supporters’ groups such as SOS and MUST come in. The statement from Drasdo and Blott continued:

“We welcome the plans for an independent regulator tasked with developing stronger rules around football club ownership, but there is a danger it will come too late for the country’s two biggest and most successful clubs.

“Manchester United and Liverpool fans are the most fierce rivals. If we can come together with common cause then we believe the government can work out a way to ensure its intended Independent Regulator of English Football and stronger ownership rules can be introduced quickly enough to safeguard the future of our two clubs.”

There is a worry among some fans that taking action now would effectively be pulling the ladder up, and would lead to a scenario where titles are fought for annually between Man City and Newcastle because no other teams have the funds to challenge.

There is also a growing sense that there is a decision to be made between retaining club values or remaining competitive, which indicates the entirety with which the game at the top level has been swallowed by money. It is a decision that shouldn’t fall on fans but it feels like it has, as their clubs increasingly get swept away from underneath them in a game of global capitalism and geopolitics.

For fan groups looking to retain some semblance of a game of football at the top level, keeping its storied clubs and rich history intact, putting pressure on governments, leagues, and clubs is the best they can do.