At a time when football clubs are using data to make more and more decisions, there are some statistics that are clearly not being noticed or addressed.In men's professional football, 43% of players are black and yet only 4% of the former players employed in the game are black, revealing a lack of diversity among decision makers and people with significant influence.On this episode, we talk to:Monique Choudhuri, a former non-executive director at Brentford and currently Managing Director of Versify Consulting,Delroy Corinaldi, co-founder of the Black Footballers Partnership,and Brian Deane, former England international striker, the man who scored the first-ever Premier League goal in 1992, and former manager of Norwegian club Sarpsborg 08.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

Many Sheffield Wednesday supporters missed the kick-off as the team played their opening fixture in the Championship last weekend, because they were staging a protest against club owner Dejphon Chansiri, who says he is willing to sell but hasn't taken any significant steps towards a sale.The bills haven't been paid and the players haven't received their wages. Wednesday had a transfer embargo over the summer and there is a likely points deduction to come but home attendances are still around 25,000 and the club regularly sells out its allocation at away games.In November, the football regulator will have the power to appoint a trustee to expedite a sale in these circumstances but in the meantime Sheffield Wednesday and the supporters continue to suffer, watching their club deteriorate.Our guests on this episode are Clive Betts MP for Sheffield South East, Mark Johnson from the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust and Fair Game CEO Niall Couper.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

While Morecambe have recently been to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea in the FA Cup, and moved into a new stadium in 2010, there have been frustrations and protests at the club. The current owners are struggling to finalise a sale, a situation that has lasted two-and-a-half years so far.Profits generated by the club in some recent seasons have since been cancelled out by losses, highlighting how difficult it is for clubs in League One and League Two to remain sustainable.We discuss the club's present situation, fighting relegation from the Football League, the potential difficulties to challenge for promotion from the National League, and the future with:Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale,James Wakefield, one of the directors of Morecambe Football Club,Dave Salmon, commentator on Morecambe matches for 'Shrimps Live',and Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.And remember, you can register for the Fair Game Annual Conference 2025, which takes place 28-29 May at AFC Wimbledon. 

In this episode, we hear the emotional stories of Bolton Wanderers and Bury, clubs that have both suffered financial problems over the past ten years.Our guests are:Yasmin Qureshi MP for Bolton South,James Frith MP for Bury North,Author and journalist David Conn,Martin Parnell from the Bolton Wanderers Supporters Trust,Mo Dickson, a member of the heritage committee at Bury AFC,and Fair Game CEO Niall Couper.David Conn reminds us that the founders of the Football League were concerned that clubs in the big cities would have a financial advantage, so the competition was set up on the principle of shared gate receipts, and that principle was in place for nearly 100 years, up to 1983.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.And remember, you can register for the Fair Game Annual Conference 2025, which takes place 28-29 May at AFC Wimbledon. 

Just 12 years after playing in the Premier League, Reading are in League One, attendances are falling and the latest financial figures showed a loss of over £17m for the 2021/22 season. The club has had problems paying staff on time in recent seasons, and there have been points deductions, fines and transfer bans. So far, all attempts to buy the club from Dai Yongge have fallen through.Our guests joining Graham Miller on this episode are Yuan Yang, MP for Earley and Woodley, Sarah Turner, chair of STAR, Supporters Trust at Reading, James Earnshaw, sports reporter for the Reading Chronicle and John Mayes, the chair of Fair Game.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

The Football Governance Bill is about to be debated in the House of Lords, with speeches to be made and amendments suggested.In this episode, Graham Miller is joined by David Bernstein, the former chairman of Manchester City, the Football Association, and the current chairman of Wembley Stadium Limited, and Fair Game CEO, Niall Couper.The Bill will have huge consequences for all clubs in the pyramid and even small changes this week could have a massive impact.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

Exactly one week before the 2024 General Election, Fair Game brings together a Question Time-style panel to discuss the future of football:- Clive Betts (Labour), former chair of the all-party Parliamentary Football Group, and member of the Football Supporters' Association.- Paul Athans (Conservative), Everton season ticket holder.- Dominic, Lord Addington (Liberal Democrats), previously sat on the National Plan for Sport and Recreation Committee.- Dr Christina Philipou, one of the country's leading experts on footballing finance and a senior lecturer at Portsmouth University.The new Government will probably have a closer relationship to football than any before if the Football Governance Bill is enacted and the panel takes questions from some invited guests.You can watch a re-run of the full live video version of the debate on YouTube.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

Graham Miller speaks to the former Reading, Newcastle, West Ham and Portsmouth goalkeeper Shaka Hislop.Shaka enjoyed a great career, playing for Kevin Keegan's 'Entertainers', the team that finished second in the Premier League two years running. He also played in memorable play-off and FA Cup finals for Reading and West Ham, and at the World Cup finals for Trinidad & Tobago. He tells us about his experience and observations of racial abuse in public, and even in the dressing room.Shaka is the honorary president of Show Racism The Red Card and explains how the inherent diversity in football shows how teams are stronger when they working together. He also says Alan Shearer would be a terrible left-back!Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

As the Football Regulator Bill continues its journey through Parliament, we look at the progress so far, the changes that have been made to the original white paper and the contradictions that still need to be addressed.Graham Miller is joined by Fair Game CEO Niall Couper, Bart Huby, the head of Football Analytics at LCP and Nick McGeehan, a co-founder of FairSquare, which investigates sport, geopolitics and business.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

While we wait for the Football Governance Bill, we talk to David Bernstein, who was chairman of Manchester City between 1998 and 2003, and then chairman of the FA between 2011 and 2013.David has written a book about his time at Manchester City, 'We Were Really There' will be published on March 11, charting the beginning of the journey from the third tier in English football to where they are today, European and World champions.As you will hear in this episode, David has interesting views on nation-state-owned clubs and the way they may influence the Government.Follow Fair Game on X (yes, we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

The Times Chief Football Writer Henry Winter,  PoliticsHome reporter Tom Scotson and our very own Niall Couper join Graham Miller to discuss the latest on the appointment of football's independent regulator.The realities of the regulator's relationship with the game are starting to take shape and in this episode we cover a lot of ground, discussing the likely shape the regulator will take, who could be appointed, and how important it is to convince Premier League clubs of the value of the football pyramid.Follow Fair Game on X (although we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

With the King's Speech expected to announce the implementation of a football regulator, we take a closer look at the Fit And Proper Persons Test and ask how it should be modified to ensure clubs have better ownership.In this episode, Graham Miller talks to Chris Blackhurst, former editor of the Independent and author of The World's Biggest Cash Machine, a book that examines the Glazer family's impact as owners of Manchester United; Martin Calladine, author of The Ugly Game and Fit And Proper People; and Stella Cooper, part of our team of researchers at Fair Game UK.And as always, CEO Niall Couper also gives us the latest news from Fair Game.Follow Fair Game on X (although we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

How often do we get to hear football fans discussing the game with a top referee? In this episode, Graham Miller and Niall Couper talk to Keith Hackett, a man who is every bit as passionate about football as we are.Keith was one of the very best for 15 years and just like us, he wanted to smash his TV screen in frustration when he saw the disallowed Liverpool goal at Tottenham. He tells us the officials in that game did have the power to stop the game and correct the VAR mistake. Keith managed the group of Premier League referees when he retired and he drove the introduction of technology to help officials do their jobs better and now he thinks there should be a reality TV show to find the next elite referees. Follow Fair Game on X (although we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

Brody Peart was a key player of Basingstoke Town. His parents are lifelong fans, he was a mascot at the age of two, his aunt is the club secretary, his grandfather is the kit man and his grandmother is on the club's board. At the age of 17, having progressed through Basingstoke's academy and junior teams, he joined Premier League club Brighton in July 2003 but Basingstoke didn't receive a penny for the transfer. The current rules prevent Brighton from paying any compensation, although strangely Basingstoke could receive a fee if Brody is ever transferred abroad during his career.In this episode, Graham Miller talks to Basingstoke Town manager Dan Brownlie and Oliver Ash, a co-owner of Maidstone United, who did receive compensation when Chris Smalling moved from Manchester United to Roma.Graham, Dan and Oliver discuss the way current transfer regulations affect clubs outside the Premier League and Football League.Follow Fair Game on X (although we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

This week, Fair Game begins consulting on our Good Governance Code report. Graham Miller discusses the code and the wider importance of Good Governance throughout football with Radojka Milevic, Mark Middling and Greg Campbell.Mark and Greg worked together on designing the code, while Radojka is the independent chair of the Charity Governance Code. Mark is assistant professor in accounting at Northumbria University, Radojka and Greg are both partners at the management and recruitment consultancy, Cambell Tickell.Follow Fair Game on X (although we still call it Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

Have you ever looked at the list of your club's employees in the programme, or the Who's Who page on their website and wondered what the Club Chaplain's role is? Graham Miller went to The Valley to meet Charlton Athletic's chaplain Matt Baker, West Ham United's Philip Wright and Neil Durling from Tonbridge Angels.Three very different clubs, but their chaplains all have important roles to play for players and fans alike and Matt, Philip and Neil gave us a fascinating insight into their involvement.We hear about a club-branded dog collar, and there is even a claim of evidence that God is a football fan!Follow Fair Game on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

As the 2023/24 football season is about to begin, we speak to the mayor of Greater Manchester (and Everton fan), Andy Burnham.Andy was part of the Football Task Force in 1998 and went on to become Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, so he brings us his wealth of knowledge on some of the key moments and decisions that led to the current financial flow in English football, plus some of the feelings about this possibly being the last season of football at Goodison Park.Follow Fair Game on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

The results of the Fair Game Index 2023 are out! All 92 league clubs have been measured, and it is the first chance for any of us to see a snapshot of how clubs compare on Financial Sustainability, Good Governance, Equailty Standards and Fan Engagement.You can see which teams finished top in each of those categories and how your club fared at www.fairgameuk.org/fair-game-index-2023.In this episode, Mat Haylock gives us an insight into the top team from the Index, AFC Wimbledon, and Lincoln City's CEO Liam Scully gives us the perspective from his club, who scored the highest on Equality Standards. As we find out, there isn't a 'one size fits all' approach being a well-run football clubAs always, Fair Game CEO Niall Couper gives us a news update as well.Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok.

When the Football Association allowed Wimbledon Football Club to move to Milton Keynes, the club’s supporters went through an emotional journey. We discuss the grief, anger and ultimate euphoria that led to the formation of AFC Wimbledon and its rise to the Football League with former Dons Trust board member Niall Couper, former Wimbledon player Ian Cooke, the secretary of the Wimbledon Old Players’ Association Mick Pugh and current Dons Trust board member Mark Lewis.

This week, we hear the final discussion from Fair Game's Female-Friendly Football Clubs Conference. Natalie Atkinson, CEO of FC United talks with Lucy Powell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about the opportunities open to the incoming football regulator to improve the experiences and involvement of women in all aspects of the game.