The Imps are taking a proactive role in helping shape the forthcoming independent football regulator, showing it’s not just about clubs being told what to do—but also about collaboration.
While much of the spotlight has been on how clubs will need to comply with the new licensing rules set by the regulator, we have chosen to flip the script and provide input into how the regulator itself will function.
Last week, the Imps side hosted members of the shadow Independent Football Regulator (IFR) at the Bank. This group, currently made up of Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) staff, is laying the groundwork ahead of the regulator becoming official later this year.
Lincoln extended the invitation to give the visiting delegation a clearer picture of how a club operates day-to-day—and to gain insight into what the regulator’s role will look like once it’s formally introduced.
“It was an opportunity to meet, engage, talk with each other,” said Liam Scully.
“To share perspective and literally, play by play, walk through what we’re aiming to do, what they’re aiming to do, and just try and see it through the lens of the other side. Hopefully they would agree, but it was time well spent.
“Huge credit to the shadow regulator, they are clearly trying to engage with the football fraternity, majority of them coming from different backgrounds.
“These are ultimately the people who are going to be behind the scenes, the engine behind the organisation. They’ve always been very open about wanting to work with clubs and work with those at the coalface.”
Setting the Standard for Governance
Our track record for good governance and fan relations puts us in a strong position to advise the shadow regulator – we’re regularly praised for our behaviours, with Kieran Maguire on example of an industry figure with a high opinion of how we conduct ourselves. We were one of only three clubs across all four professional English divisions to receive a gold rating in a fan engagement index released last year.
Scully said Lincoln began preparing for the regulator’s arrival well before any laws were passed, taking the 2021 Crouch review as a clear signal of what was to come.
“When Tracey Crouch wrote her initial white paper, we took the assumption that at some point most of this, if not all of it, would become law,” he said. “We always try to be a club that operates as an exemplar across our whole portfolio, and one of the areas we looked at is good governance.
“So we set out on a journey 18 months ago to ensure that we were regulator ready. So that was taking all the policy, some of the known quantities, even though they maybe weren’t law, a lot of the learning, and then working with all the Lincoln City stakeholders.
“The fan advisory board, the supporters’ trust foundation, even elements such as the former players’ association, we basically took an approach to ensure that we were ready and working towards that.
“Hard outcomes, we issued a golden share to the fans that covers heritage items. But it was about, we might as well use this time. It’s coming down the line, so let’s be ready for it.”
The eventual formation of the regulator is intended to ensure smaller clubs are competing on a fair battlefield, and living within their means. That’s something we are trying to move towards, despite the £3m losses incurred last financial year. However, that is dwarfed by some, including Huddersfield Town (£15m) and Bristol Rovers, in danger of relegation with losses of more than £5m.
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