The Bishop of Sheffield spoke at the second reading of the Football Governance Bill on 13th November 2024, welcoming the legislation and the strengthening of regulation and protections for football governance:
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield: My Lords, I congratulate the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Minister for securing this debate, and thank the previous Government for their efforts to ensure that the sport of football—a national treasure beloved of so many—is more effectively regulated.
I realise that I cannot claim that football was made in Sheffield but, in addition to the codification referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, in London in 1863, a second codification of the beautiful game took place in Sheffield in 1867—another early governance document for the sport that was influential for decades across the north. The city is home to the oldest football club in the world, Hallam FC, as well as to the two much better-known professional football clubs, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday.
As Bishop of Sheffield, it gives me great pleasure to contribute to this important debate. It is a particular privilege to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson. I want to say, first, something about the relationship between football clubs and their communities; secondly, something about financial stability; and thirdly, something about the responsibility of football clubs in relation to the climate emergency.
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