Football Governance Act 2025

16 Application for provisional operating licence

(1) A club may apply to the IFR for a provisional operating licence.

(2) The IFR must specify in rules—

(a) the time by which an application must be made, and

(b) the manner and form in which an application must be made.

(3) An application must be accompanied by—

(a) a personnel statement (see subsection (4)) and a statement explaining why the club considers the personnel statement to be accurate,

(b) a strategic business plan (see subsection (5)), and

(c) such other information and documents as may be specified by the IFR in rules.

(4) A “personnel statement” is a statement—

(a) identifying each of the club’s owners and officers,

(b) identifying the club’s ultimate owner,

(c) setting out the job title of, or a description of the role performed by, each of the club’s officers, and

(d) setting out the specified senior management functions performed by each of the club’s officers who is a senior manager.

(5) A “strategic business plan” is a document containing—

(a) information, in respect of the relevant period, about—

(i) the proposed operation of the club,

(ii) the estimated costs of that operation,

(iii) how those costs are to be funded, and

(iv) the source of such funding, and

(b) such other information as may be specified by the IFR in rules.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (5)(a), the “relevant period” means the period—

(a) beginning with the day on which the application under this section is made, and

(b) ending no earlier than the end of the next football season after the application is made.