The Football Governance Bill is progressing through Parliament and there is a lot to celebrate – if this legislation passes it will create an Independent Football Regulator (IFR) which can protect our historic football clubs and ensure long-term financial stability across the game.

The IFR will have powers to intervene when bad owners threaten a club’s very existence but that’s not all – the IFR will also improve club heritage protections, formalise and strengthen supporter engagement while preventing domestic clubs from joining a European Super League or similar breakaway competition in the future.

This whole process was kickstarted by the threat of six top-flight clubs breaking away to form their own closed shop league and the regulator is still needed to give supporters a voice in running the game. Where will things go without us having a real say? See the speculation about Premier League games in the US for a possible example.

The Hull City Supporters’ Trust has supported The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) in working with the Government and opposition parties to ensure this bill is a landmark moment for English football and they’re calling on fans to contact their MP and confirm that they will vote in favour of the Football Governance Bill.

How do I contact my MP and what do I say?

• Find your MP’s contact details here: members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP
• BCC the FSA (appg@thefsa.org.uk) and HCST (contact@hullcityst.com) so we can see which MPs have been contacted.

MPs are more likely to engage with personally written emails from their constituents but, if you don’t feel confident doing that, you can use this template letter. Remember to be polite, and include the club you support, as well as your address. While it’s better to contact MPs via email we realise some people will prefer to use Twitter – tag @WeAreTheFSA as we’d be interested to join in those discussions.

While the number #1 priority is to call for MPs to support the bill some supporters and MPs might have more detailed discussions to consider further amendments to strengthen the legislation even further – if that applies to you or your supporters’ group this FSA briefing looks at suggested amendments to the bill.

Image ©UK Parliament/Maria Unger

Tags: FSA, HCST, HullCityST