UPDATING the Football League owners’ and directors’ test alone will not prevent other clubs suffering financial difficulties, according to the man leading an independent review into what went wrong at Bury.

Jonathan Taylor, the co-head of the sports group at law firm Bird & Bird, is leading a financial sustainability review which is an extension of an overall, existing governance review.

The decision to extend the review came on the back of the financial crisis at Bury, with the EFL keen to learn the lessons from the circumstances which led to the club’s 125-year membership of the league being withdrawn in August.

Today a winding-up petition brought by HM Revenue & Customs against the club at the High Court was adjourned.

Taylor is confident he will have total independence in carrying out his work, which will look at whether the Football League’s regulations are effective in ensuring the financial sustainability of its clubs and recommend any changes he feels are necessary.

His report will be made public in April or May next year, with any proposed changes set to be voted on at the Football League’s annual general meeting in June.

Much of the focus following Bury’s demise has been on the owners’ and directors’ test which anyone involved in the administration, ownership or management of a Football League club must pass, but Taylor says it is likely that a broader solution will be needed.

“Frankly I don’t think any owners’ and directors’ test could be a panacea for all wrongs,” he said.

“Once new owners are in, the fact that they have passed the test — however strong it is — doesn’t mean that events aren’t going to occur that make the league ask itself: ‘Do we need to intervene again?’

“The financial fair play rules are part of that. There are already triggers that allow the league to intervene in a club. We have to look at the whole landscape or we’re missing a trick.

“I want to look at what’s happened with Bury, but it’s not about saying: ‘It’s this person’s fault or that person’s fault.’

“It’s about saying, ‘What did the league do, what rules did it have in place, how did it apply those rules or not apply those rules, is there something more that the regulator could/should have done here, are there other rules, other approaches that could be taken to protect the integrity of the competition and protect community assets so they don’t go out of the league and potentially go out of business?’”