Man United and Liverpool fans demand action over club ownership

Manchester United and Liverpool supporters have put their long-standing rivalry aside to demand tougher ownership rules for English clubs.

With both clubs currently up for sale, their biggest fan representative groups have issued a joint statement urging government ministers to include a robust club owners and directors test in a forthcoming white paper.

Draft legislation on football governance is expected to be published next month and is expected to propose a new independent regulator for the English game.

The statement follows months of talks between the Manchester United Supporters' Trust (MUST) and Liverpool's Spirit of Shankly (SOS).

Both groups want greater supporter influence on how their clubs are run and tougher safeguards against unfit owners.

In the joint statement, MUST chief executive Duncan Drasdo and SOS chairman Joe Blott say:'By common consent, our clubs are the biggest in English football and, with a combined worldwide fanbase of over 200 million people, they are widely recognised global institutions in fact perhaps two of the most well-known British institutions worldwide.