It was promised as the panacea to all of English football’s structural ills. After years of political posturing, white papers, and ministerial photo-ops, the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has finally unveiled its landmark “State of the Game” report.
And what groundbreaking revelations did the shiny new quango unearth?
- English football is drowning in debt.
- Over 90% of professional clubs operate at a loss. Football Supporters’ Association
- Most lower-league sides live hand-to-mouth, totally dependent on wealthy benefactors.
Stop the presses. Who could have possibly guessed?
For Evertonians, who have spent the last 3 years watching our club being gutted by corrupt financial rules, arbitrary points deductions, and bureaucratic overreach while Manchester City’s oil-state monsters tied lawyers in knots, the IFR’s grand diagnosis feels less like a breakthrough and more like a high-priced summary of what fans on the street have known for a decade.
The Man in the Chair: Independent Regulator or Political Insider?
Heading up this new bureaucratic behemoth is David Kogan, described by one newspaper as a “Labour crony”.
Presented to the public as an objective arbiter, Kogan’s credentials tell a somewhat different story. A veteran media executive and Labour Party ‘historian’ — who has literally the book on internal Labour politics — Kogan was appointed following no shortage of raised eyebrows over party donations and political ties.
Now, Kogan loudly insists his independence is “absolute” and promises he will resign if politicians try to pull his strings. But Everton fans could be right to be cynical. We’ve heard pious lectures on “integrity” and “governance” before — usually right before the Premier League hierarchy handed us another deduction while looking the other way at state-backed behemoths.
When a self-described independent arbiter comes straight out of the establishment apparatus, Evertonians have every right to ask: Who is this regulator actually designed to protect?
Lots of Noise, Zero Teeth
The State of the Game report spends pages pointing out that football’s financial model is broken. Yet when it comes to the real issues that affect clubs like Everton, Kogan’s regulator voice remains frustratingly vague:
- Parachute Payments and The EFL: Kogan talks up “compromise” and a “New Deal” that tinkers at the margins without fixing the absurd gap between the Premier League and the rest.
- State Ownership and Geopolitics: When asked about high-profile cases involving nation-state owners, Kogan’s response is to hide behind process.
- Regulatory Capture: Will this new body actually curb the Premier League’s “Sky Six” cartel, or will it simply add another layer of red tape that punishes mid-tier clubs while the elite hire army-grade lawyers to bypass every rule?
“At the moment, the sun is shining… our intention is to act before it’s too late,” Kogan proclaimed this week.
Tell that to the Everton fans who watched a criminally mismanaged Board of Directors run our club into structural ruin under the noses of the Premier League, only for the fans and players to carry the punishment on the pitch.
The Verdict: Status Quo
The IFR was supposed to take football back from the billionaires, bad actors, and self-interested Big Six. Instead, Kogan’s debut report feels like classic Westminster PR: state the obvious, set up a few committees, write a 200-page dossier, and leave the fundamental power structures completely untouched.
Until the regulator shows it is willing to challenge the entrenched cartel at the top of the Premier League rather than just lecturing lower-league clubs on liquidity, Evertonians should treat Mr Kogan and his “State of the Game” with the heavy dose of cynical scepticism it deserves.
94% of English football clubs are loss-making, according to report
This video directly covers the release of the IFR’s State of the Game report and its key findings on football’s financial sustainability, providing useful background context to the points discussed in the post.
Nearly two-thirds of English football clubs are technically insolvent, regulator says
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