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After criticism from political rivals, Labour received support for its proposals to give fans a right to own at least a share of their clubs from the Uefa president, Michel Platini. The Frenchman described it as "a great idea", saying that supporters were the only people who had a genuine "identity" with clubs.
According to the plan, to be part of the Labour Party election manifesto, fans could take up to a 25% stake in a club to ease concerns over increasing levels of debt of Premier League clubs and foreign ownership.
"Personally, I think it is a great idea ... that the supporters invest in a club because they at the end of the day defend the club's identity," Platini said. "They are always there. They are always watching the games."
Platini said the decision over who can buy a club and how should be made by national governments, adding that he liked the Spanish system where, for example, Barcelona and Real Madrid are owned by fan groups known as socios.
"There are clubs now where the president is not a national of the country, the coach is not of a national of the country and the players are not nationals of the country. The only ones to have any kind of identity are the supporters," he said.
Supporters' Direct has meanwhile reacted positively to Labour's proposals, and to an interview with the shadow sports minister, Hugh Robertson, in which he also talks about the need for supporters to be guaranteed representation in clubs.
"The two parties – one of which will form the basis of the next government – both agree fans should have a stake in the clubs they support and are pledged to work to make it happen," said Dave Boyle, the chief executive. "That's great news for the trust movement and long-overdue recognition that clubs aren't businesses like any other.
"We look forward to the next government – whoever it is – putting fans at the heart of the game and we will work with them to make it happen."
The government is to unveil radical proposals that would give football fans first option to buy their clubs when they were put up for sale and require clubs to hand over a stake of up to 25% to supporters' groups.
The ideas, due to be included in the Labour manifesto with a promise of action in the first year of a new government, are designed to give fans a far greater say in how their football clubs are run and overhaul the way the game is governed.
It is believed that No 10, which has been working secretly on the plans for weeks, has resolved to deliver concrete proposals to tackle growing public disquiet at the level of debt carried by some clubs, the ownership model of others and the dysfunctional structure of the Football Association.
• Conservatives call government plans 'a gimmick'
• In detail: Brown's blueprint for reforming football
• David Conn: A vote-winner by the government?
• Football's debt, dysfunction and dissent
• Labour plans 'a great idea' – Michel Platini
The plans include:
• Requiring clubs to hand a stake of up to 25% to fans in recognition of their links with their local community.
• Implementing a change-of-control clause that would allow fans a window to put together a takeover of their club if it was up for sale or went into administration.
• Giving the football authorities a deadline to reform the FA and remove "vested interests" from the board, and streamline decision making.
• Introducing a unified system of governance that co-ordinates issues such as club ownership and youth development.
• Allowing professional leagues and the FA additional oversight of club takeovers.
The plans are likely to put Gordon Brown on a collision course with the Premier League, which has vigorously defended its free-market model in recent years, but he will claim that the proposals are for the good of the game.
Two policy ideas have emerged as frontrunners to improve supporter representation around the boardroom table, both of which would see fans taking a meaningful ownership stake in clubs.
Portsmouth's financial collapse, the outpouring of anger in response to the leveraged buyouts at Manchester United and Liverpool that loaded the clubs with combined debts of more than £1bn, and last week's shock resignation of the FA chief executive, Ian Watmore, in protest at the "vested interests" on the board are all understood to have persuaded the prime minister to act.
Reflecting the view that they will succeed in democratising ownership only if there is stronger leadership from the top, it will also set football a deadline of up to a year to overhaul its governance system.
Under the scheme to give fans a stake, supporters' trusts with elected representatives, audited accounts and Financial Services Authority recognition would be responsible for maintaining the link between clubs and their community and ensuring fans are not priced out of the game.
The government could, however, face legal challenges from existing owners over the dilution of their shares. It has echoes of the model proposed by the so-called Red Knights attempting to buy Manchester United. Wealthy fans will contribute 74.9% of the overall purchase price, but supporters will hold a "golden share" of just over 25%, giving them a blocking stake on any change of ownership and an influential boardroom voice.
Legal advice is being sought on the idea of a change of ownership at a club triggering a mandatory window for fans to take the opportunity to shape the ownership structure and buy the club at a price set by an external, independent auditor.
Under the proposals, fans would be free to set up their co-operative style model, shareholding trust or other structure that enabled them to have a say in the club.
While the government will reiterate that it has no desire to regulate football directly, the prime minister believes the democratisation of football club ownership taps into wider themes about the "mutualisation" of public services and the need for regulatory reform.
Gordon Brown frequently cites his Raith Rovers share certificates as among his most treasured possessions. That fact is likely to be wheeled out again in the coming weeks to highlight his personal interest in proposals designed to enable fans to own a share of the clubs they support in the hope that it can become a touchstone election issue.
Over recent years, the government has frequently paid lip service to the supporter-led movement to increase fan representation on boards. But it is only in the last 12 months, as fan fury at Liverpool and Manchester United at the size of the debt loaded on to their clubs by overseas owners has been accompanied by financial meltdown at Portsmouth, that it has started to dominate the thoughts of a broader constituency of fans.
The issue has also entered the political mainstream as the Red Knights looking to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family mobilised, Uefa proposed new rules to force clubs to live "within their means" and Portsmouth became the first Premier League club to go into administration.
Last month Brown said at his monthly press conference that debts at some clubs were "too high" and warned them to "look very seriously to their responsibilities to supporters". A keen Raith fan who contributed to a fan buyout, he is understood to have played a key role in formulating the new proposals.
Organisations such as Supporters Direct have long looked with envy at the German Bundesliga, where 51% of the club must be owned by supporters, and Barcelona, where democratic elections are held every four years.
There are two policies on the table, from several under consideration, that appear to have gained most favour with Brown and are now being subject to legal scrutiny by aides.
The first would, in effect, force clubs to hand a proportion of their shares – perhaps up to 25% – to fans. These supporters' trusts, comprising democratically elected representatives, would be recognised in law and maintain the clubs' links with their communities in a variety of ways. The mechanism for doing so would be left to the football authorities to work out.
The second proposal would give fans the opportunity to put together a takeover bid for their club in the event of it being put up for sale or going into administration.
In a pre-defined window, they would be able to seek financial backing for a new ownership model that might lead to a community-owned model, a shareholders' trust or a single owner who pledges to be democratically accountable to fans. The club's price could be set by an independent, external auditor.
It is felt that Uefa's plans for a new Financial Fair Play regime, which it hopes to introduce in time for the 2012-13 season and would essentially prevent clubs spending more than they earn except on building infrastructure and youth development, would make it easier for an outside agency to place a value on clubs.
While there is an understanding that there is much detail to be worked through to make the schemes practical, Brown is believed to be serious about seeing the idea through if Labour were to win the election.
For all its current issues off the pitch, the Premier League, with no little justification, has been able to point to its rise to pre-eminence as the most exciting, most popular and most profitable in the world. Despite the travails of some of its clubs, it remains a British success story and the government has therefore stepped warily, occasionally challenging and cajoling the game to reform its dysfunctional structures but stopping well short of ordering change.
The new proposals mark a distinct shift in tone. The football authorities will be told to implement the ideas on club ownership and simultaneously issued with a "final warning" over the need to overhaul their governance structures.
They will call for the proposals suggested by Lord Burns to reform the FA five years ago – to introduce independent non-executives to the board, reduce the numbers of representatives from the professional and amateur games and overhaul the FA Council – to be implemented in full.
The government will order the removal of the "vested interests" on the FA board that are said to have blocked reform and led to the frustrated resignation of chief executive Ian Watmore after just 10 months.
It will also call for a unified fit and proper persons test, additional scrutiny of club takeovers and a coherent policy on youth development, with the FA taking the lead.
Some will criticise the government for jumping on the bandwagon in response to a flurry of recent calls for change in the way the game is run. But No 10 will say that it has been considering the proposals for months and point to a dialogue with football that stretches back years.
Most recently, the culture secretary at the time, Andy Burnham, wrote to the Football League, Football Association and Premier League posing seven searching questions and challenging the game to "reassess its relationship with money".
Brown is, however, also understood to be keen that the government's intervention is not interpreted as it siding with Uefa president Michel Platini over the Premier League in the debate about how the game should be regulated.
It will point to its previous support for the Premier League's position when European regulators attempted to reform the way it sells its TV rights.
The Premier League is expected to mount a robust defence of its model.
Executives recently banked £1.2bn for a series of overseas TV deals that will take the total earned from its next set of TV contracts to more than £3.2bn. On the pitch, the product is as successful as ever.
Its chief executive, Richard Scudamore, told the Guardian last week that he supported reform of the FA but said any move to restrict the freedom of club owners to speculate would seriously damage the attractiveness of the league.
I think this is more than a vote winning gimmick. Football means so much to the people of this country and it's promising at least to see the government taking an interest in the way the game is being run.
