{"id":219516,"date":"2025-10-12T16:11:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T16:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/219516\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T16:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T16:11:09","slug":"baroness-brady-performs-a-massive-u-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/219516\/","title":{"rendered":"Baroness Brady performs a massive U turn"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Ham Vice Chairman Karren Brady<\/a> appears to have completed a U-turn on the subject of the \u2018football regulator\u2019 by using her Sun newspaper column to back David Kogan\u2019s appointment.<\/p>\n

Last November, Baroness Brady, who sits in the House of Lords, told her fellow peers there were \u201cdangers lurking in this (football governance) bill\u201d as she did her best to block it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAspects of this legislation risks suffocating the very thing that makes English football so unique, the aspiration that allows clubs to rise and succeed in our pyramid system. The ambition that means fans can dream,\u201d she said at the time.<\/p>\n

Most Read on West Ham News<\/p>\n

The Conservative peer Brady added that planned \u201cextreme redistribution\u201d would \u201creplace our brilliant but brutal meritocracy with the likelihood of a closed shop where survival not aspiration becomes a ceiling\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Government later rejected calls from Karren Brady to publish a letter from UEFA which warns that domestic clubs and the England team could be banned from the Champions League and Euros over interference from the incoming football regulator.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the House of Lords, Conservative peer Baroness Brady described the correspondence sent by European football\u2019s governing body to the Secretary of State as \u201calarming\u201d and called for it to be made public. But Labour frontbencher Baroness Twycross told Parliament it was a private letter and \u201cthere is no intention for it to be published\u201d.<\/p>\n

Karren Brady\u2019s \u2018U turn\u2019 laid out in her \u2018Sun\u2019 column:<\/p>\n

Now, eleven months later, the Baroness writing in the red top tabloid appears to have changed her mind:<\/p>\n

\u201cI GET it, football governance isn\u2019t the kind of thing that sets pulses racing.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t make for the drama of a 4\u20133 comeback or a late winner.<\/p>\n

But make no mistake \u2014 an imminent appointment will shape the\u00a0future of the game for decades.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always had my doubts about whether we truly need an Independent\u00a0Football\u00a0Regulator (IFR).<\/p>\n

But since one is coming, we\u2019d better make sure we get it right.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

David Kogan has been chosen to chair the IFR. He\u2019s spent decades navigating the world of media rights, sponsorships and\u00a0TV deals\u00a0\u2014 the lifeblood of modern football.<\/p>\n

He understands where the\u00a0money\u00a0comes from, where it goes, and why that matters. That gives him insight into one of football\u2019s big pressure points: financial\u00a0sustainability.<\/p>\n

Kogan\u2019s experience stretches well beyond the\u00a0Premier League.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s dealt with the\u00a0EFL,\u00a0Uefa, the women\u2019s game and international bodies.<\/p>\n

That matters, because football isn\u2019t just about the elite \u2014 it\u2019s a pyramid, and if the top crumbles, the base cracks with it.<\/p>\n

The IFR needs a leader who can build transparent, robust structures.\u00a0 Kogan isn\u2019t a regulator by trade, I see that as a positive.<\/p>\n

And, more importantly, he\u2019s worked in governance roles that demand accountability.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll need good people around him \u2014 and a healthy dose of common sense, which can be in short supply in regulatory circles.<\/p>\n

Some have questioned his political donations to Labour MPs, including Sir\u00a0Keir Starmer.<\/p>\n

Personally, I don\u2019t have a problem with that \u2014 having political views shouldn\u2019t disqualify anyone from public service.<\/p>\n

His appointment still needs to be rubber-stamped by the Commissioner for Public Appointments \u2014 a process that\u2019s dragged on since April.<\/p>\n

Quite why it\u2019s taking so long is anyone\u2019s guess. Either way,\u00a0Kogan will have plenty to deal with the moment he\u00a0steps\u00a0in.<\/p>\n

Just look at the turmoil at\u00a0Sheffield\u00a0Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Owner Dejphon Chansiri has\u00a0faced furious calls from fans to sell the club after repeated financial crises\u00a0\u2014 tax debts, embargoes,\u00a0 unpaid wages.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad saga that shows exactly why football needs oversight that works.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the Football Governance Act gives\u00a0the regulator more\u00a0 practical powers to stop another Wednesday-style meltdown.<\/p>\n

Kogan\u2019s team has already been out meeting clubs \u2014 including us at\u00a0West Ham\u00a0\u2014 to discuss how regulation can\u00a0help the game.<\/p>\n

We urged them to listen to the experience and expertise within the Premier League, where lessons have been learned the hard way over decades.<\/p>\n

Premier League clubs will welcome a\u00a0regulator if \u2014 and it\u2019s a big if \u2014 it genuinely improves ownership standards, strengthens fan engagement, protects club heritage, and prevents breakaway leagues.<\/p>\n

The aim must be to support well-run clubs, not punish them, or bog them down in needless red tape.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been assured that efficiently-run teams \u2014 the ones that make the Premier League the global powerhouse it is \u2014 aren\u2019t the focus of scrutiny.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s just as it should be. The Premier League remains the most competitive, most watched, most envied league in the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It sends \u00a31.6billion a year cascading down the football pyramid, funding everything from local pitches to community clubhouses.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a system worth protecting, not\u00a0meddling with.<\/p>\n

Kogan\u2019s mission should now be to ensure\u00a0sustainability, not insist on profitability, as football is a risky\u00a0business.<\/p>\n

Few clubs actually make money. For most owners, football is a labour of love, not a profit centre.<\/p>\n

At the majority of well-run clubs, every penny of revenue is re-invested.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly the case at West Ham, where our shareholders don\u2019t take a salary or dividend and every penny goes back to the playing squad, our staff, our infrastructure, growth and development.<\/p>\n

The key word here is \u2018consultation\u2019. The regulator must listen to those who\u2019ve built the Premier League into the phenomenon it is today.<\/p>\n

If they ignore that experience, and blunder into heavy-handed oversight, the damage could be severe.<\/p>\n

Football is more than a business, it\u2019s a heartbeat that connects millions. It\u2019s history, identity, and\u00a0pride.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"West Ham Vice Chairman Karren Brady appears to have completed a U-turn on the subject of the \u2018football…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-219516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}