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Campaign commentary on things that actually happened. Every item links to the primary source for the event it is about, and when we get something wrong we say so here rather than quietly editing it.
The campaign joins the UK's central hub for football-for-good organisations.
Fair Share Football is proud to announce its partnership with Football Action Network, the UK's central hub for football-for-good organisations and winning campaigns.
A campaign for a fixed, indexed, published share of football's money at every level of the pyramid.
Fair Share Football launches today with four asks: a fixed statutory percentage of combined Premier League and EFL broadcast revenue, indexed to the rights deal; reform of parachute payments; funding that reaches below Step 1; and one annual, machine-readable publication of every distribution in the game.
The campaign publishes its full sources and its working from day one, and invites corrections, so that anybody considering supporting it can make an informed choice. It invites support from fans, clubs and other interested parties, and asks anyone who agrees with it to say so.
We are supporters, not a governing body. We are not asking anyone to be poorer. We are asking for a fixed share, written down, that does not depend on who is in the room.
The regulator's backstop is now the most likely route to a settlement. Parachute payments are inside its scope.
The Independent Football Regulator, chaired by David Kogan, has a backstop power to impose a financial settlement between the Premier League and the EFL if the two cannot reach one. Parachute payments were brought inside its scope by amendment as the Football Governance Bill went through, and fall to be considered if the backstop is triggered and they are judged relevant to the financial sustainability of the pyramid.
A draft State of the Game report is expected later this year, with a final report in spring 2027. It is the document most likely to decide whether this is settled by agreement or by imposition.
Our position is the same either way. Whoever writes the settlement should write the whole pyramid into it, not the top two thirds of it.
Football regulator to review parachute payments; State of the Game report timing. SportsPro, 2026-01-20.
Source: SportsPro
Premier League clubs have approved a settlement to offer the EFL. Read the statement carefully: the National League is not in it.
On 30 July the Premier League said its clubs had unanimously voted to approve a proposal that would 'now be formally offered to the EFL for discussion'. Reporting puts it at up to £1.5bn over about a decade, funded by raising the levy on transfer fees from 4% to 6%, and phased in: under £100m in 2026/27, over £130m the season after, around £160m a year from year three.
Two things are worth saying plainly. The first is that this is a proposal, not a deal. The EFL has not accepted it. The second is the one nobody at either league has been asked about: the money stops at the EFL's bottom edge. Below it are 996 clubs that The FA allocated to Steps 1 to 6 for this season. Not one of them appears in the statement.
That is not an oversight by the Premier League. The EFL negotiates for 72 clubs, and those 72 are the ones it represents. Which is exactly the problem with settling the future of the pyramid in a room containing two of its parts.
Premier League statement on strategic partnership with EFL. Premier League, 2026-07-30. Premier League clubs agree new £1.5bn deal for EFL. Insider Sport, 2026-08-03. The FA releases National League System club allocations for Steps 1-6 in 2026-27 season. The Football Association, 2026-05-14.
Source: Premier League
Source: Insider Sport
Source: The Football Association
The FA's allocations for 2026-27 are the clearest statement of the size of what gets left out.
On 14 May The FA confirmed the National League System allocations for 2026-27: 996 clubs across 48 divisions, 19 leagues and six steps, with 132 clubs promoted.
It is worth sitting with that number. Nine hundred and ninety-six clubs, each with a committee, a ground, a set of accounts and a fixture list. Together they are the base the whole structure stands on, and collectively they receive, from the top flight, a grant fund they have to apply to.
We have corrected our own figure because of this announcement. We had previously seen the figure of around 1,600 clubs at Steps 1 to 6 quoted. The FA's own allocation is 996. We would rather use the governing body's number and be right.
The FA releases National League System club allocations for Steps 1-6 in 2026-27 season. The Football Association, 2026-05-14.
Source: The Football Association
Owner suitability, home-ground protection and insolvency duties are now live. Distributions are still to come.
Provisions of the Football Governance Act 2025 commenced on 5 May 2026. Clubs and individuals must now notify the regulator of prospective owners and officers, and the regulator must determine their suitability before they take up the role. Clubs need approval before disposing of a home ground or appointing administrators, and must keep supporters informed during insolvency. Competition organisers must notify and consult the regulator in specified circumstances.
These are real protections and we welcome them. They are also, notably, protections against clubs being destroyed rather than provisions about how football's income is shared. The distribution question is the next one, and it is the bigger one.
The Football Governance Act 2025: what came into force on 5 May 2026. Lewis Silkin, 2026-05-08.
Source: Lewis Silkin
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