Football Governance Act 2025: Statutory guidance on the meaning of 'significant influence or control'

The Football Governance Act 2025 establishes a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) to safeguard the future of the national sport. One of the Regulator’s new powers is to introduce stronger, statutory owners’Owners’ and directors’Directors’ testsTests to make sure club custodians are suitable.

Following royalRoyal assentAssent of the Football Governance Act, this statutoryStatutory guidanceGuidance sets out the meaning of  ‘significant influence or control’ in the context of who can be considered an owner of a football club. Paragraph 15(2) of Schedule 1 to the Football Governance Act 2025 requires the guidance to be used when interpreting references to the phrase: ‘significant influence or control’ to determine whether someone is an owner. This guidance is particularly relevant to regulated clubs and their existing and prospective owners, as well as to the Independent Football Regulator (IFR). 

The examples in this guidance are not a complete list of all possible situations, nor should the guidance be read as an exhaustive statement of what constitutes significant influence or control.

When applying and interpreting this guidance careful consideration should be given to the facts of the particular case which will be important in determining whether significant influence or control exist in any particular case. 

The draft guidance was laid before both Houses of Parliament on 27 October 2025 for 40 days during which eitherneither House mayresolved resolve not to approve it;it. ifAs no such resolution iswas made, the Secretary of State maypublished publish the guidance.final statutory guidance on 8 December 2025.