HOW often do I hear that sport and politics should not mix?

The week before last, Parliament published the Football Governance Bill, which will see the establishment of an independent regulator for English football.

The regulator will license clubs, requiring them to apply stronger tests on ownership, implement certain standards on fan engagement, and follow sound financial practices.

Some fans question the need for this, however self-regulation has shown its limitations. There are clubs living beyond their financial means, skewing the competitiveness of the leagues, and putting the existence of the clubs at risk.

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At Oxford United, our current situation whereby we pay a licence fee to use the stadium and have limited income streams beyond match tickets, restricts our ability to be both competitive and financially sustainable, and requires significant shareholder support.

Our shareholders’ investment in the proposed move to The Triangle is essential for the club’s future. It provides a ground to play in once the current licence expires, and a route to financial sustainability in line with regulation.

We are fortunate that our current shareholders have vision and recognise the potential of Oxford’s global brand. Those of us brought up in Oxford may not realise the strength of our city’s name, but as someone who works in tourism in the city centre, I can assure you it has cultural and economic pulling power, which can benefit our football club.

Grimsby Town’s chair, Jason Stockwood, recently wrote in The Guardian that ‘football extends beyond the pitch, weaving itself into the very fabric of our societal, cultural and, most unmistakably, political realities’.

The societal and cultural impact was evident when I was one of a few hundred fans watching Oxford United Women against London Bees. Two guards of honour led the teams onto the pitch. One of these was the Summertown Stars girls’ team.

They recently featured on Radio Oxford because a number of girls had stopped playing football when some boys at their school had picked on them, telling them that football wasn’t for girls. Our women’s’ team invited the girls to come and watch the match and provide a guard of honour, wave flags, and take penalties on the pitch at half-time.

For many of these girls it was the first match they had watched. They saw role models right in front of them – women who had once been the girls. Raising the profile of our women’s team by having our own home for them at The Triangle should contribute to making women and girls’ football more widely accepted.

Herald Series:

The stadium project promises a number of additional benefits to Oxfordshire. Economic benefits include jobs from construction as well as over 320 FTE onsite long-term jobs and opportunities for local suppliers. Social benefits will stem from the club’s pledge through the Dreaming Spires project, which includes working with local schools, sports clubs and mental health projects.

All of this is at risk without a stadium. In 2023, the government concluded that a football club’s demise would lead to significant loss of revenue to the local economy (including transport and hospitality), loss of local and central tax revenues, loss of social cohesion, civic identity and cultural pride.

Last week, we heard that Oxfordshire County Council has not yet signed any formal agreement to lease the land. With the clock ticking until we have to leave the Kassam Stadium, as supporters we must question this delay with the club and councillors.

The final lease will rightly be granted only once planning permission is in place, but that should not prevent the signing of a conditional legal agreement. OUSP will be following up on this and will advise supporters of any helpful discussions you can have.