Is following football as a lawyer the new bus man's holiday?

The men's Premier League kicks off again this evening.

My hometown club, Ipswich Town, are back in England's top division after a 22-year hiatus. Tomorrow, I'll be hopping on a train to Ipswich then taking a short walk to the stadium at Portman Road. I’m fortunate enough to again be one of the 21,000 season ticket holders who will get to enjoy or endure every minute of the ride over the next 38 fixtures between now and May 2025.

Ipswich’s last game in the top tier was against tomorrow's visitors, Liverpool, at Anfield in May 2002. Town lost 5-0 and were relegated.

Since then, it has been a story of gloom to glory. The club soon faced financial difficulties and entered administration in 2003. In 2019, after several lean seasons in the Championship, the club were relegated again to League One, England’s third tier.

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Each year that Town stayed away from the Premier League, it felt less likely that they would return.

There has been a drastic divergence between the Premier League and the rest of the English footballing pyramid, fuelled by huge television deals and the growth in global commercial partnerships of England’s top clubs.

To compound this, parachute payments ‘cushion’ those recently relegated from the Premier League by providing massive and concerning financial advantages compared with existing second-tier teams. It was no surprise that three of the four teams (Ipswich excepted) at the top of the Championship last season had just been relegated from the Premier League.

A modern sporting fairy-tale involving new American ownership and a dynamic and hotly-tipped manager in Kieran McKenna, meant that Ipswich sensationally became just the fifth team to secure back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era. The vibes have been immaculate, as beautifully described by the Guardian’s Jonathan Liew.

The growing gulf between the Premier League and the rest also means it is very difficult for newly promoted teams to compete with more established opponents, given financial constraints restricting newcomers’ ability to assemble squads with a depth of top-tier talent.

Unsurprisingly, Ipswich are odds-on to get relegated this term.

With some trepidation, then, Town return to find a league in off-pitch turmoil.

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A spectre is haunting English football: the spectre of regulation.

There are question-marks over the competitiveness of the division, with Manchester City having just secured an unprecedented fourth title in a row. Not un-relatedly, issues relating to the financial regulation of elite footballing competition continue to cast a shadow over the top tier of English football.

In 2020, I wrote an essay for the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers on reforming UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations. I observed that those FFPR did not benefit clubs equally, and pointed out that the existing rules may entrench competitive imbalance by concentrating spending power with traditional commercial juggernauts; and suggested the need for some specific reforms. ?

Since then, there has been growing controversy about the financial affairs of Premier League clubs, principally in relation to the domestic league’s own rules.

Matters are about to come to a head.

As reported in the Financial Times earlier today, an independent commission is due to consider 115 charges against Manchester City in relation to alleged breaches of financial rules later this season.

City could face a points deduction or even expulsion from the league if the charges are upheld, although the club denies all allegations.

On the Guardian Football Weekly podcast, Max Rushden fairly described the verdict as “the biggest moment of the season”. The outcome – whatever happens - will be seismic for the sport. Other clubs such as Leicester City face potential points deductions in relation to breaches of Profit and Sustainability Rules.

League organisers and clubs appear to realise that further reform to existing rules is worth exploring. Over the summer break, the Premier League also announced that clubs have agreed to an alternative League-wide financial system, trialling Squad Cost Rules and Top to Bottom Anchoring Rules in shadow of existing Profit and Sustainability Rules. Whether the rationale for these changes is principled or produces ‘just’ outcomes remains to be seen. Turkeys tend not to vote for Christmas.

Perhaps more significantly, the Government has revived pre-election proposals for an independent football regulator, reintroduced in the King’s Speech (BBC).

We can expect legislation to grant powers to an independent body to oversee clubs in England’s top five tiers, and this provides some hope for a more holistic approach to regulating the national game.

A pre-election factsheet set out three primary objectives, including club financial soundness and systemic financial resilience.

Tantalisingly, a third objective is heritage (i.e., to safeguard the traditional features of English football that matter most to fans and local communities of clubs).

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Whether, and to what extent, the state should intervene in sporting competition is a matter of some debate.

Some might say that such interference should be kept to a minimum, and that clubs should be left to manage their own affairs.

Others will welcome stronger safeguards to protect what are essentially cultural assets of national importance and community value.

At the very least, we will soon have a clearer view of what the Government considers the appropriate nature and scope of independent oversight.

As Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told a press conference earlier this week, no-one wants to normalise asterisks on the league table or long-running regulatory disputes.

Nevertheless, it feels like elite English footballing competition is at a crucial fork in the road.

Those serious and interesting debates about off-field issues are, in my view, important for two main reasons.

First, from a sporting perspective, maintaining a competitive balance to the beautiful game is important. When Ipswich first reached England’s top tier in 1962, they won the league at the first attempt. That such a feat is now virtually impossible should be a source of concern [as are Ipswich’s first two fixtures: Liverpool at home and Manchester City away].

Second, club football is culturally vital to England. Sure, it is only a game, but for many, football is the most important of the least important things in life (to paraphrase Carlo Ancelotti). Aggregate attendances for the top four tiers is estimated at well over 30 million people each year. Clubs are not merely money-making (and often loss-making) machines. These institutions are also often historic and locally significant community focal points. The beautiful game is also one of Britain's most powerful cultural exports. Preserving and protecting what is significant and special about the sport in England is collectively important.

Those debates are for another day. Right now, I’m scouring the forums for transfer news and re-watching the emphatic video announcing celebrity fan and shirt sponsor Ed Sheeran’s minority stake in the club.

The Tractor Boys are back in town this weekend. I can't wait, but the lawyers are on the way.

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