With the summer upon us and a good few weeks before the new league season kicks off, it may not seem like the right time for a Member of Parliament to talk about football.

But ironically, it provides the perfect opportunity to turn our attention from what happens on the pitch, to what happens off it.

I might not be someone who knows the most about formations or tactics, and I will never claim to be a talented footballer, but it is my job, as a politician, to implement laws that protect the game and ensure it is properly regulated.

All Bolton Wanderers fans will remember the turmoil the club endured. Financial mismanagement, coupled with a lack of government and oversight from the English Football League, resulted in our town’s football club teetering on the brink.

Along with our neighbours Bury, Derby County, and many others, this story is not unique.

Despite this happening time and time again, nothing substantial has changed in football regulation.

The government is yet really to act and the EFL is brazen in its disdain for clubs like Bolton.

The final decisions lie with the leagues who are either unwilling or ill-equipped to address it.

It feels like only yesterday that Bolton went into administration. We are told repeatedly that the government will act, and its recent commitment was an independent regulator before the next election.

Yet, three years on, there are names circling around a number of football clubs which fill fans with both laughter and dread equally.

The fact that the EFL and government refuse to step in and instead allow deeply unsuitable individuals to enter into a process of buying hometown football clubs and have a bid accepted in 2022 is unacceptable.

The government did put forward the fan-led review and I credit it for that. Indeed, last month I attended an event in Parliament alongside Fair Game UK to discuss their work.

But now it is time to put these ideas put down on paper into action.

The measures must be implemented in full and the independent regulator set up without any further delay.

Every season that is allowed to sail by will see another Bolton, another Bury, another Portsmouth. This cannot continue.