The Trust Deficit in English Football

Football in 2025 is complicated – multiple sets of financial rules, incoming government-backed regulation, nation-states owning clubs, and tournaments caught in geopolitical issues. 

As advisors to owners, investors and leaders in football, we set out to ascertain how much this cuts through to fans: does football fandom now lie as much in the boardroom as on the pitch, or do supporters simply care about what happens over 90 minutes? 

We partnered with FocalData to answer this question through a series of 30-minute one-to-one interviews with over 100 fans from across the country, covering 44 clubs and a range of ages and regions.