Lord Stern of Brentford (CB)

My Lords, I rise as a supporter of AFC Wimbledon, a noble club, the great romantic story of the 20th century in British football—a club that was stolen, and a club that restarted and reinvented itself. That is the spirit that football is all about: the local clubs, with local supporters. Those clubs need protection, and they need to have it explicitly stated that they and their interests will be carefully considered. That is why I support this amendment. I draw noble Lords’ attention to the criteria set out in proposed new subsection (3) in Amendment 72. That is what would give the lower-league clubs the protection that they need. The people who hire the young people we train are dependent on those revenues and on support in this kind of way. I urge noble Lords to support this amendment.