IFR operating licence support for English football clubs.
Practical support with your club’s provisional licence application, from an independent review to full project management.
Clubs in the top five divisions of English men’s football will need an IFR licence to compete from the 2027/28 season.
Lagom Sports Compliance helps your team understand the requirements, organise the work and prepare a clear, consistent submission. Choose review only, targeted support or full application management, depending on your club’s resources and progress.
Our approach brings together the application, board oversight and preparation for continuing compliance, with a named senior consultant responsible for our work.
Confidential, without obligation. We aim to respond within one working day.
The Licensing timetable
Key IFR dates for your club
December 2025: IFR powers relating to incumbent owners and senior managers took effect.
5 May 2026: The assessment regime for new owners and senior managers began.
2 November 2026: The provisional licence application window opens for clubs in the top five divisions.
26 February 2027: The deadline for those clubs to submit their provisional licence applications.
2027/28 season: Clubs in scope need an IFR licence to compete.
Clubs promoted from National League North or South follow a separate application timetable.
Starting early gives your team time to reconcile information, address gaps and obtain the necessary approvals before submission.
The IFR operating licence is not a box-ticking exercise that can be completed in a few weeks. The criteria cover financial resilience, governance standards, ownership integrity, fan engagement and ground safety. Meeting each one to the standard the IFR requires takes preparation time, internal coordination and structured documentation.
Clubs that approach the licence application as a single event rather than a compliance process are likely to produce submissions that fall short. Clubs that start early, identify gaps against each criterion and build the evidence base systematically are better positioned to submit credibly and avoid regulatory scrutiny of a weak application.
A compressed timeline is not just a practical inconvenience. A delayed or refused licence application means a club cannot compete. The reputational, financial and commercial consequences of that outcome are severe.
Three levels of support. One standard of output.
Every club's position is different. Some have strong internal teams that have already made significant progress on the application. Others are starting from a blank page with limited internal compliance resource. Most are somewhere between the two.
We offer three levels of engagement to reflect that reality. The scope of our involvement adapts to your situation. The standard of our output does not.
- ✓Full criterion-by-criterion review of your completed application
- ✓Written findings report identifying gaps and areas of strength
- ✓Annotated mark-up of submission documents with specific observations
- ✓Prioritised recommendations for strengthening each criterion
- ✓Senior-level review call to discuss findings and agree next steps
- Have a dedicated internal compliance, legal or finance team with capacity to lead
- Have made substantial progress and are approaching submission readiness
- Want an independent expert check before committing to submission
- Have a tight timeline and need fast, structured external input
- ✓Initial gap analysis and readiness assessment against all criteria
- ✓Agreed scope -- clear delineation of what we lead and what you lead
- ✓Drafting and documentation support on agreed specialist areas
- ✓Review and sense-check of all internally produced sections
- ✓Consolidated pre-submission review of the complete application
- ✓Senior review call and written pre-submission clearance note
- Have internal resource for parts of the application but recognise specialist gaps
- Want a collaborative engagement rather than full outsourcing
- Are at an early to mid-stage and want expert input built into the process
- Need to manage cost while ensuring the application meets the required standard
- ✓Full readiness assessment and gap analysis from day one
- ✓Project plan with milestone schedule and board checkpoint structure
- ✓Drafting and production of all application documents and evidence packs
- ✓ODSE eligibility assessment, disclosure preparation and submission management
- ✓Governance framework design and documentation
- ✓Financial resilience narrative and sustainability plan support
- ✓Fan engagement programme design and governance documentation
- ✓Regulatory liaison with the IFR throughout the process
- ✓Ongoing support through IFR queries and requests for further information
- ✓Named senior consultant accountable from engagement to submission and beyond
- Do not have internal compliance or governance resource with IFR licensing experience
- Want the entire process managed with a single point of accountability
- Are dealing with complex ownership structures, ODSE or governance gaps
- Recognise that the consequences of a weak application make full specialist delivery the right investment
- Are starting from an early stage with a meaningful amount of work ahead
Confidential, without obligation. We aim to respond within one working day.
A clearer application. A more manageable process.
Our work is designed to help your club:
Reduce the time senior staff spend coordinating documents and chasing information.
Establish clear responsibilities across leadership, finance and operational teams.
Identify inconsistencies and missing evidence before submission.
Give the board a clear view of progress, decisions and unresolved issues.
Prepare for the reporting and oversight that continue after licensing.
The scope should fit your club’s size, resources and starting point. We build on the work your team has already completed.
The IFR application and the obligations that follow
| Stage | What Your Club Needs to Address |
|---|---|
| Provisional Application | A strategic business plan with financial forecasts, and a personnel statement identifying ownership and senior management. Use the IFR’s application format and obtain the required club approvals. |
| Continuing Licence Conditions | Financial plans, a corporate governance statement, fan consultation and an annual declaration. |
| Progression to a Full Licence | Appropriate financial resources, appropriate non-financial resources and effective fan engagement, alongside the other elements of the full licence test. |
| Related Regulatory Duties | Ownership and senior-management suitability requirements, notifications and additional duties relating to matters such as club heritage and the home ground. |
The IFR’s approach takes account of individual club circumstances. Our assessment separates the work needed for your application from the arrangements needed for continuing compliance.
Approval of a personnel statement confirms its accuracy; it does not itself approve the suitability of the people named in it.
Regulatory information checked: 5 October 2026. Refer to current IFR rules and guidance for the authoritative requirements. Additional reading that may be useful:
Read: IFR football club licensing
Read: The Football Governance Act 2025
Other useful links include:
Provisional licence application guidance
The IFR licensing process
Regardless of which level of support is right for your club, our working method is consistent. We do not produce generic deliverables. We do not apply templates without understanding your specific position first. Every engagement begins with a structured diagnostic, and every output is produced to a standard that is defensible to the IFR, your board and any third party that reviews it.
How the IFR licensing process works with Lagom
From initial conversation to post-submission support
A brief, no-commitment call with a senior consultant. We understand your timeline, your internal capability, your ownership structure and where you currently stand against the licensing criteria. At the end of that call, we tell you which level of support we think is right for your situation and why.
Regardless of the level of support you engage, we begin with a structured assessment of your current position against each IFR licensing criterion. For Review Only, this is conducted against the draft application you provide. For Part and Full Support, it is conducted as an independent diagnostic of your club's actual position. The assessment output maps each criterion, identifies gaps and assigns a readiness signal.
For Part and Full Support, we agree the precise scope of our involvement and produce a project plan with clear milestones, ownership assignments and board checkpoint structure. For Review Only, we confirm the review timeline and output format.
The agreed work is delivered by a named senior consultant with relevant IFR and regulatory advisory experience. All drafting, review and documentation is produced in-house by our team. We do not subcontract the substantive work.
Before any submission is made to the IFR, we conduct a final structured review of the complete application. We identify any remaining gaps or risks, produce a written pre-submission note and, for Full Support, manage the submission process directly.
IFR engagement does not end at submission. The regulator may request further information, seek clarification or raise concerns. We remain available to support the club through any post-submission regulatory engagement, and we provide ongoing monitoring support through the licence period for clubs on a retainer basis.
Support beyond the application
We can agree ongoing support to help your club maintain a compliance calendar, prepare reporting, keep evidence organised and track actions arising from regulatory engagement.
Support can include financial-plan coordination, governance reporting, fan-consultation records, annual declarations and preparation for progression to a full licence.
The scope and responsibilities are agreed separately, so your team knows what support is available and who owns each task.
Talk to us about your licensing position.
Talk to us about your club’s next step
Tell us what your team has completed, where you need support and when you would like to submit.
We will discuss your priorities and recommend a practical scope, whether that is an independent review, help with specific workstreams or management of the application project.
Request an IFR licensing call
Confidential, without obligation. We aim to respond within one working day.
IFR operating licence — common questions from English football clubs.
-
The licensing regime covers the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two and National League. Clubs in scope need a licence from the 2027/28 season.
-
Begin by assessing what your team already has and what needs updating. For clubs in the top five divisions, the application window runs from 2 November 2026 to 26 February 2027. Preparation should allow time for document checks and internal approvals.
-
It includes a strategic business plan with financial forecasts and a personnel statement. We help you work through the IFR’s current application format and reconcile the supporting information.
-
The ODSE regime distinguishes prospective owners and senior managers from incumbents. The IFR can assess incumbents where appropriate, and relevant notification duties apply. Preparing a personnel statement should not be confused with obtaining suitability approval.
-
Yes. External advisory support is optional. Your team can prepare the application and use us for selected workstreams or an independent review. We recommend a scope based on your resources and the work already completed.
-
The IFR can request further information. Refusal is a last resort, and supervisors work with clubs to address concerns. Applying early and providing complete information reduces avoidable delays.
-
Clubs work towards the full licence test while meeting their continuing obligations. The IFR determines when that test is met; a separate full-licence application is not required.
-
Tell us at the outset so that we can agree the appropriate scope. We can identify opportunities to reuse relevant information while addressing each framework’s separate requirements.