Manchester United’s fans deserve credit for their “green-and-gold” protests this season. It’s to be expected that a club of their size will generate the most press coverage, so when its fans start wearing different colours to show their displeasure at the club’s shaky financial foundations it makes for a very visible demonstration. Other clubs’ fans can be inspired to take similar action.

Football is nothing without its fans. Chester will, of course, be resurrected at some level – because the fans won’t let the club die. With the general election coming up, we have the chance to make football a political issue by using our votes to bring in a government that will make sure that, in future, clubs must be run transparently, responsibly, and, most importantly, for the good of the fans.

As for the regulations and this ‘fit and proper person’ test – everyone from the clubs chief executives to the FA and the government need to seriously examine where everything has gone wrong. Teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool have admittedly benefited from relaxed rules over the years but English football should no longer be allowed to operate in debt. The general election policies – buried under all the health, education and foreign affairs promises – will be imperative for the future of football clubs’ in this country.

In an era of financial failings and economic recession the time of the ‘boom’ is over. Radical steps must be taken now in the light of Chester’s demise or the characteristically passionate and pioneering English game will finally go ‘bust’.