IAN Evatt believes football needs to remain vigilant and seize the opportunity for reform after the European Super League debacle.

Six Premier League sides were involved in the widely-condemned plan by 12 European clubs to form a breakaway competition.

It collapsed within two days, and now a Government review will consider creating a new regulator, changing the “fit and proper person test” for owners and examine how to give fans a greater say in how their clubs are run.

It will examine the way the game is run overseas, such as Germany’s Bundesliga where teams are only allowed to take part if commercial investors hold no more than a 49 per cent stake in their ownership, giving fans a major say in the running of their clubs.

Evatt insists now is the time for change.

“Just because we have seen the right decision taken by the six English Premier League teams doesn’t mean the problem goes away or that it won’t happen in the future,” he said.

“We have to make the game a better place, a fairer place, and there is no better opportunity than right now.”

The ESL would have had damaging implications for the football pyramid as a whole and Evatt believes any changes to the game need to look at the lower leagues given what has transpired at Bury, Wigan, Macclesfield and others.

“I think there needs to be a fairer split for certain, but the biggest thing for me is the opportunity that we’ve now got to have proper reform and to put rules and strategies in place to stop this greed and this selfishness,” he added.

“If we can do that as a sport and as a community of football together, then great. I think it’s absolutely fantastic to see fans protesting to get what we believe is fair for the good of the game and not just for the good of individual owners and that’s happened over the last couple of days.

“We can’t just accept that it’s over because people will always be looking for these types of opportunities, these types of selfish leagues to improve their own pockets and own finances.

“What should be done is what’s good for the game from top to bottom and that’s what makes sport a sport. It has to be competitive from top to bottom, so hopefully we’ll use this opportunity to sort the whole game out.”