LABOUR has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fulfil a general-election promise and kick off a fan-led review of football.

Ian Mearns, the MP for Gateshead and chair of the all-party parliamentary group for football supporters, wrote to the PM warning that the football pyramid faces a “fundamental and existential crisis” as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mearns’s letter referenced the seismic Project Big Picture (PBP) proposals of last month, which if implemented would have represented the biggest change to professional football in England for a generation.

PBP was soon formally rejected by Premier League clubs, but Mearns is also concerned about the direction of the strategic review which is continuing instead.

Mearns wrote: “Right now, the football pyramid faces a fundamental and existential crisis — and while there were hopes [of a] return of fans to stadia across the UK this month, this is now understandably not possible for the foreseeable future.”

“The Covid-19 disruption has brought to the fore some of the many challenges, both financial and at a governance level, which have been allowed to fester out of the spotlight for decades.

“There is now the very real possibility of a number of clubs falling into administration in the coming months without urgent financial support.”

He said that PBP exposed “a deeply concerning agenda by some clubs who are in the best financial position to support the pyramid — trying to manipulate that support to increase their own power within the game.”

“While this proposal appears to have been rejected in the first instance, it is most concerning to read of the newly established review conducted by the Premier League and administered by an American-based consultancy who are reportedly exploring all options including the naked power grab by football’s top clubs.

“It is becoming increasingly urgent that the government intervene in this process and deliver on its promises.”

PBP was described by the Football Supporters’ Association last month as a “sugar-coated cyanide pill.”

It promised an immediate £250 million rescue package to the EFL’s cash-starved clubs and a 25 per cent share of future Premier League media revenues — but it was also criticised for concentrating power in the top flight’s big-six clubs.

The Boston Consulting Group — the US-based firm Mearns’s letter refers to — was reportedly appointed early on to assist in the Premier League’s strategic-review process, which began in February.

Mearns added: “We are lucky in England to have a comprehensive competition structure from grassroots to the Premier League, revered across the world, which has been left to self-govern with a detrimental impact on sustainability.

“In the last six months football has faced the acute challenges which have arisen from a lack of proper governance over decades.

“I believe we have a very real opportunity to effect positive change which would allow the pyramid to exist but to do so in a much more sustainable way, which protects fans of clubs from unscrupulous behaviour putting their clubs at risk.”