Football Governance Act 2025

2 Key definitions

(1) In this Act—

• “club” or “football club” means a body that operates a team;

• “competition”, in relation to football, means a league (or a division of a league), a cup, a tournament or any other competition;

• “competition organiser” means a body that organises a competition;

• “English football” means all regulated clubs and all specified competitions, taken together;

• “football” means association football;

• “the IFR” means the Independent Football Regulator;

• “licensed club” means a club that holds an operating licence;

• “operating licence” means a provisional operating licence or a full operating licence (see section 15);

• “regulated club” means a club that operates a relevant team (whether or not the club is a licensed club);

• “relevant team” means a team that is entered into, is a member of, or participates in a specified competition;

• “specified competition” means a competition specified in regulations under subsection (3);

• “specified competition organiser” means a body that organises a specified competition;

• “team” means a football team.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a club “operates” a team if it is responsible for the team’s entry into, membership of, or participation in a competition.

(3) The Secretary of State may by regulations specify a competition; but the Secretary of State may not specify a competition unless the teams that are entered into it, or that are members of it, or that participate in it are exclusively or predominantly English teams.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3), a team is an “English team” if the ground at which the team customarily plays its home matches is in England.

(5) Before making regulations under subsection (3) the Secretary of State—

(a) must assess whether it would be appropriate to exercise the power and, if so, how,

(b) in carrying out the assessment, must consult—

(i) the IFR,

(ii) the Football Association, and

(iii) any other persons the Secretary of State considers appropriate, and

(c) must publish and lay before Parliament a report on the outcome of the assessment.

(6) Subsection (5) does not apply in respect of the first regulations made under subsection (3).

(7) Sections 3, 4, 26, 56, 67 and 92 define other terms used in this Act.