We take a look at the best and worst run Premier League, EFL, National League clubs revealed by Fair Game for 2024. In this section, it’s third tier teams of the 2023/24 season. Check them out below…
GOOD GOVERNANCE
The Index says: “Clubs that have good governance are predominately either PLCs (and therefore have a legal requirement to be so) – Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic for example – or have significant fan presence on their boards. In short, the frameworks are already in place for good governance so clubs
should have nothing to be scared of.
“Top three north of the border were Heart of Midlothian, winners Celtic and Rangers. In England, Norwich City topped the table, followed by Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. Celtic again are the best governed club overall, followed by Norwich and Hearts.”
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
“On financial sustainability, five of the top 10 are Fair Game clubs (Carlisle United, AFC Wimbledon, Tonbridge Angels, Chester City and Cambridge United). All of them are under increasing pressure to abandon their principles. To resolve this football’s financial flow needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Clubs that publish full accounts also score better – strengthening the argument for the regulator to call for full disclosure. In Scotland, as a nod to how the game is better run north of the border, the top 10 are all from the Scottish Premier League.
“Overall winners in Scotland are Celtic, followed by Kilmarnock and St Mirren. The winners in England were York City, followed by Bolton Wanderers and Cambridge United.”
EQUALITY AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
“On equality and ethical standards, the scores across the board were very disappointing. This adds weight to the argument that change needs to happen and that that should be included in the remit of a regulator. In England, only 16 of the top 164 clubs managed to get over 50% in this category. Clubs from diverse or liberal areas score highest, notably Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal and winners Brighton & Hove Albion. Equality standards scores in Scotland are however even worse than in England, with only Celtic scoring above half marks.
FAN & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
“On fan and community engagement, fan-owned clubs, unsurprisingly, dominated the top positions, with seven
of the top 12 being fan-owned – AFC Wimbledon, Tonbridge Angels, Scarborough Athletic, Exeter City, Chester City, and Bath City. The seven all out-scored every Premier League side.
“Blackpool also saw notable improvement as they have emerged from the Oyston years. It is a similar story in Scotland – seven of the top 10 are fan-owned. Topping the charts there are Hibernian, Stenhousemuir and Clyde. Hibernian and Stenhousemuir share top spot with a score of 8.3 out of 10.
“Top in England and top overall are AFC Wimbledon.”
CAMBRIDGE STATEMENT:
Cambridge United has been named as the EFL’s best-run Club in the Fair Game Index, the most comprehensive survey of the football pyramid…
Fair Game ranked every Club on the four criteria set out in the Fan-Led Review: financial stability; good governance; fan engagement; and equality standards. A team of academics, accountants and analysts looked at more than 200 data points to reach their conclusions.
Cambridge United’s score of 60.3 put it at the top of all 164 EFL and National League Clubs and third in the entire pyramid, behind only Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.
The U’s ranked strongest for financial sustainability, being placed second in the EFL. This is a significant turn-around after the Club sold its stadium in 2004, was forced to the brink of administration in 2005 and fell out of the Football League for nine years, largely because of financial problems.
Following a major change programme over recent years, the Club is now starting its fourth consecutive season in League One, owns the Cledara Abbey Stadium and has built a new training ground facility.
The Club also scored highly on fan and community engagement, ranking 7th in the EFL, reflecting its early adoption of the Fan Advisory Board model. A recent example of this in practice is the Club’s Crest Consultation period, where fans have played a major role in United’s change of Crest process.
The U’s were also ranked in the EFL’s top 10 for good governance and EDI.
CEO Alex Tunbridge said, “We are very proud to have been recognised by the Fair Game Index as the best-run Club in the EFL. It is recognition of the hard work by countless people at every level of the Club over recent years: Owners, Board, staff and volunteers at every level of the Club.
“We are ambitious and like every Club we want to win, but at the same time we are trying to be as competitive as possible whilst staying true to our values and principles – living within our means, doing what we can to put supporters first and playing an active part in the wider community of Cambridge.
“We are trying to raise our level in every area of the Club on and off the pitch and we all know there is a lot more hard work ahead. It is getting much tougher to compete financially at every level of the game, but we are determined to keep modernising and developing the Club in a sustainable way. Cambridge is a special, thriving, fast-growing city and we want to play the fullest part we can in its future success story”.
Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, added, “The Fair Game Index is the most comprehensive measure of how well run a football Club is. And Cambridge United is an exemplar of what an extremely well-run football club should be.
“They are financially sustainable, have good governance in place, together with strong fan and community engagement and an enlightened approach to EDI. So, it is no surprise that they come top not just in League One but across the whole of the EFL.
They deserve huge credit for the hard work and way they have turned the club around in recent years. Cambridge is exactly the sort of Club that football should be encouraging others to emulate. The new regulator should use football’s financial flow to reward well-run clubs.
“Any business looking to invest in a Club, or partner with them as a sponsor, should be attracted by their credentials and the fact they are trying to do things the right way.”
The 2024 Fair Game Index explained:
After analysing over 80 publicly-available data points in the 2023 Fair Game Index, this year experts at Fair Game looked at 226 touchpoints across the four pillars, calling for clubs at all levels to strive for best practice in their operations
Each club is then scored out of 100, with 40 points coming from financial sustainability metrics, 30 coming from governance measures, 20 for equality standards, and 10 for fan engagement. This score provides a comprehensive measure of how well-run a club is, with a detailed report outlining the winners and losers in each division.
The 2024 Index looks at the top seven divisions in the English men’s football pyramid and the top four in Scotland – a total of 206 clubs. The clubs have then measured against 226 different touchpoints spread across four different strands: Financial Sustainability, Good Governance, Equality and Ethical Standards, and Fan & Community Engagement.
Fair Game’s strength is based on extensive research. In each of the four strands, we have worked closely with clubs, supporters’ groups, leading academics and industry experts to analyse the issues and identify measurable and meaningful touchpoints. In some cases, this has already led to published research notably on Owners and Directors Test, Environmental Sustainability, Good Governance, Gender Inequality, and football’s failed financial flow.
So what is included in the strands?
Financial Sustainability includes 38 touchpoints and includes measures such as accounting, debt, ticket pricing and sponsorship.
Good Governance draws on 55 different metrics and covers areas such as board structure, accountability and transparency.
Equality and Ethical Standards has the most touchpoints – 106 – and covers a very broad range of topics from ethics to sexism, and from environmental impact to racism.
Fan and Community Engagement has 30 touchpoints, including fan representation and community investment.
Continue our look at the best and worst run Premier League, EFL, National League clubs revealed by Fair Game for 2024. In this section, it’s fourth tier teams of the 2023/24 season. Just click on the next page…
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