Regulating Football:
Commodification, Consumption & the Law

by Steve Greenfield and Guy Osborn

London: Pluto, 2001.
Pp.224,
£9.99 (pb)
ISBN 0 7453 1026 5

Reviewed by:
MARK JAMES
Reviews Editor, Entertainment Law
School of Law, Manchester Metropolitan University

This book has come out at the start of a football season that has seen the Office of Fair Trading renew its investigations into the price of replica kits, FIFA's new transfer regulations try to come into force and the government uncertain as to whether it would be able to ensure that the World Cup 2002 would be on free-to-air television. It traces the changes and developments in the regulation of the national game, from the unquestioned dominance of the FA and the clubs and the ideal of self-regulation, to the ever-increasing power of the players and media broadcasters and regulation by the law. It takes as one of its themes, 'the perception that the game has been taken away, changed and repackaged and, in this sense, made less palatable to the traditional bedrock of supporters' (p.ix). This is developed throughout by the authors and demonstrates how alongside this commercialisation of football, its regulation has moved from the sphere of public order to the need for its being controlled as an economic activity.

The first five chapters discuss the changing nature of the regulation of football in specific contexts. The final chapter concentrates on the challenges that face football in the future. Chapter one charts the development of state and legal control of public order issues. The reactive nature of government responses and the intransigence of the football authorities are described against the backdrop of judicial enquiries and persistently ignored advice. As crowd safety became inexorably linked with crowd control, the various pieces of football specific legislation were passed, imposing an ever-greater control on spectators by the criminal law. Having described and discussed the regulation of spectators up to the Football (Offences & Disorder) Act 1999, they correctly foresee that any further disturbances at future championships are likely to produce further and more Draconian legislation. In chapter 6, they anticipate that following the disturbances at Euro 2000, further, more restrictive legislation that infringes the human rights of spectators would be passed. Within a couple of months, the Football (Disorder) Act 2000, with its emphasis on removing the passports not just of those convicted of football related offences but of those merely suspected of involvement in acts of hooliganism, had been passed. Although in many people's eyes a clear breach of the Human Rights Act 1998, this legislation has recently been held to be a legitimate restriction on spectators' movement in Gough & Smith v. CC Derbyshire [2001] EWHC Admin 554. Not only does this demonstrate the ever-increasing number of legal fields that are impacting on sport, but also the speed with which the subject of Sports Law is developing. As a result of the riots at Euro 2000, the book is out of date before it is published.

The remaining chapters concentrate on specific topics and how their regulation has changed over the years. Chapter two concentrates on the nature of clubs themselves, from their origins as 'bulwarks of the community' to major, publicly listed corporations. An entity that was originally governed by the Football Association and the Football League requires a different kind of regulation to one that must answer to the rules and regulations of the Stock Exchange. The necessary commercial regulation of some clubs has gone hand-in-hand with a consequent need for legal advice and regulation as a business. Others are now actively seeking, or through necessity have sought, the greater involvement of their fans. This has given an air of greater democracy to some clubs and a different set of legal imperatives to be addressed. Each has shown that the law is playing a greater role, whether clubs opt for plc or community trust status.

Chapter three concentrates in the shift in power from the clubs to the players. Where the employment of players was once exclusively controlled by the clubs and football authorities, it is now dominated by players, their agents and the law. FIFA's new transfer regulations demonstrate an attempt to wrestle control of employment issues back from the players; however, the law is now so deeply entrenched in this issue that it is in reality the courts that now provide the lead in contractual regulation. This is mirrored in the discussions of on-field conduct in chapter four. Again an issue once dominated by the football authorities, participator violence and player injuries have come under the auspices of criminal law and the law of negligence. Despite the FA's overhauling of its disciplinary procedures in the last two seasons, the threat of actions for restraint of trade following a ban for foul or injurious conduct ensures that the law is never going to be far from this issue.

The last topic individual topic covered is that of racism in the game. This is a good example of effective regulation by both non-legal and non-governing body means. Although the law has played some role, the main thrust in the control of racist conduct has been from the combined attempts of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Professional Footballers' Association and the clubs by the use of the 'Kick It' campaign. Thus, by reference to the specific topics, all forms of regulation of football issues are examined by the authors. They conclude by exploring where the next site of contested regulation in football will be. They accurately foresee the problems associated with the further regulation of spectators, the ongoing disputes over contracts between the EU, FIFA and UEFA, and the uncertain influence of players' agents. Finally they briefly discuss the possible impact of a regulator for football as proposed in the final report of the Football Task Force. This new form of regulation could well be the future and could answer many of the questions relating to the regulation of the game posed by this book. Until then, the growth of the law will continue to take centre stage.

This book is well constructed and well written. It combines a description of the past and present regulation of football and tries to provide an insight into what the future holds. Its critique and comment demonstrates a sympathy for the game coupled with a realism that things cannot be left as they are without further recourse to the law or better ideas from within the game itself. In that way it will appeal to lawyers and non-lawyers, academics and fans of the game who want to know a little more of the background to what is Sports Law. Whether football likes it or not, it is the subject of legal regulation. What this book tries to do is ensure that the sport is regulated on its own terms, not by indiscriminate use of the law.

This is a book review published online on 18^th February 2005

Citation: James, Mark, 'Regulating Football: Commodification, Consumption & the Law' by Steve Greenfield and Guy Osborn, Entertainment and Sports Law Journal (ESLJ) Volume 1, Number 2 <http://www.warwick.ac.uk/go/eslj/issues/volume1/number2/reviews/james/>