Chester FC achieve Silver Status in the annual Fair Game index
Chester Football Club has been awarded Silver status in the annual Fair Game Index.
Chester FC were today acknowledged for their performance off the field after picking up a Silver award from this year’s annual Fair Game Index.
The comprehensive report from football campaign group Fair Game has recognised the work of everyone at the club with this award.
The award puts us in the top 10% of clubs in the English men’s football pyramid and the highest-ranking club in the National League North.
The goal of this year’s Index, now in its fourth year, is to identify which clubs in the country are ‘regulator ready’ with the impending introduction of the new Independent Football Regulator, following the recent passing of the Football Governance Act 2025.
The Index analyses all the clubs in the top seven divisions of the English men’s professional game – 164 clubs in total – across eight sets of criteria.
These eight areas were: Financial Sustainability, Governance, Transparency, Fan Engagement, Ethics, Diversity, Environment, and Community Engagement.
Each of the criteria covered a range of different issues and were developed following extensive research and numerous conversations with the then Shadow Regulator to provide a best approximation of the standards required for football clubs in a new regulatory regime.
It took Fair Game’s team of 15 researchers four months to gather all the data, accumulating a total of 22,000 datapoints.
Analysis of our club showed we particularly excelled in Fan engagement, Environment and Ethics.
Fair Game CEO Niall Couper said:
“The Chester community has a right to feel really proud of their club. Our analysis shows the club is really forward-looking.
“It is putting the issues of tomorrow first and has proved to be true trailblazers. Huge credit must go to all the staff at the club and, crucially, the fans.
“This is a club that is doing things the right way off the pitch. Clubs like Chester should be rewarded in a new financial distribution model – and for the first time the new regulator will have the powers to do exactly that.”
Chester FC Director Adrian Rattenbury said:
“We are incredibly proud to have achieved the Silver Award in the Fair Game Annual Survey.
“To be the only club in our league recognised at this level is a testament to the values, hard work, and commitment of everyone at Chester FC – from our staff and volunteers to our supporters.
“This recognition underlines our ongoing dedication to transparency, sustainability, and doing things the right way both on and off the pitch.”
Under the Fair Game Index, clubs awarded Gold status are deemed to be ‘Regulator Ready’. Clubs that receive Silver and Bronze awards are recognised as excelling in certain aspects but have room for improvement in other areas to achieve Gold status.
In total, just 27 clubs from the 164 have been awarded any status.
Gold – Brighton & Hove Albion, Cambridge United, AFC Wimbledon, Carlisle United, Bath City.
Silver – Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Plymouth Argyle, Swansea City, Exeter City, Rochdale, Chester FC.
Bronze – Arsenal, Brentford, Liverpool, West Ham United, Burnley, Luton Town, Norwich City, Watford, Lincoln City, Chesterfield, Forest Green Rovers, Darlington FC, Maidstone United.
The aim of the Football Governance Act is to improve the financial sustainability of football clubs, ensure financial resilience across the leagues and safeguard the heritage of English football, and the Fair Game Index provides a clear snapshot of the significant progress required by many clubs across the country to make this a reality.