Manchester United and Liverpool fans join forces in fight for tougher ownership rules

Manchester United and Liverpool supporters have set aside their long-standing hostilities to come together by calling for tougher ownership rules for English clubs.

The clubs two biggest fan representative groups have united to issue a rare joint statement urging government ministers to include a much more robust test for owners and directors test of football clubs in a forthcoming white paper.

It follows months of talks between the Manchester United Supporters Trust (Must) and Spirit of Shankly (SOS) and comes at a time when the current owners of both clubs are looking at potential sales.

Draft legislation on football governance which is due to include plans for a new independent regulator is expected to be published next month.

Both United and Liverpool fans want greater influence going forward in how their clubs are run and better safeguards to prevent their and other clubs from falling into the hands of unfit owners.

In a joint statement, Duncan Drasdo, Must chief executive, and SOS chairman Joe Blott, said: 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.