The Football Supporters’ Association said: “Each day drafting White Papers is another day when a club might cease to exist. Another day for a dodgy owner to get their hooks into a club. Another day for remote billionaires to try and create European Super League 2.0. The FSA urges the Government to move fast and legislate now.”

MPs also queued up to express such concerns, with Julian Knight, the chair of the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport select committee, saying: “Developments such as the proposal of the preposterous European Super League, and the struggles for survival faced by clubs in our communities, have exposed football governance in this country for the joke that it is. With no firm timescale to tackle the deep-rooted problems afflicting the game and no move to establish the regulator in shadow form ahead of legislation, it feels like the Government has parked the bus, when they should be going flat out on the attack to deliver in the best interests of fans.”

Tracey Crouch MP, the former sports minister who chaired the fan-led review, had already warned of the “catastrophic” consequences of delay, with shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell branding the Government’s response “a kick in the teeth” for supporters.

But Huddleston said: “If we implemented it tomorrow, we could have exactly the opposite impact of what we are intending, i.e. making sure that clubs can survive and that they are financially sustainable.

“Because this licencing will come with some obligations and requirements and we need to make sure the clubs know what that is before we get it in legislation.

“We want to move as quickly as possible but we do need to make sure that we do this carefully.”

Huddleston also all but ruled out the regulator lying within the Football Association, saying: “The FA has already got some demons it is dealing with and tackling its own governance structural challenges and is making movement. I think it would be difficult to imagine the circumstances where it would, at least currently, fit the criteria that’s needed to become the independent regulator.”

The Premier League, which last week said it was in “productive dialogue” with the EFL over financial redistribution, reacted to the Government’s response to the fan-led review by stating it accepted “the case for reform and for a strengthened regulatory system across football” but would “continue to maintain that it is not necessary for there to be a statutory-backed regulator”.

Rick Parry, EFL Chair, released a statement on Monday: “Since the publication of the Fan-Led Review in November, the EFL has engaged regularly with Government officials and ministers on the important topics it has raised. Our focus throughout has been on how we can make clubs financially sustainable at all levels of the football pyramid for future generations of football fans. We are therefore pleased that the Government has recognised the overriding importance of this issue in its response earlier today.

“During our discussions, we have also made it clear that the EFL would support the introduction of an independent statutory-backed regulator, if it provided the means by which we can deliver a reset of the game’s finances. This will require a combination of better financial regulation and a fairer redistribution of money across the pyramid, and it is again encouraging that the Government has called for more money to be transferred from the top of the game down through the divisions.

“The Government’s response asks that that we continue to engage with the Premier League and FA to identify a football solution to this issue and we will do so.  However, it should be recognised that the EFL has been seeking to progress this issue for the last two years, calling for a 75/25 split of revenues with the Premier League, without achieving any tangible progress. Therefore, we also welcome the fact that the Government is open to granting the regulator a ‘backstop’ power to implement redistribution across the pyramid, if football is unable to agree a solution itself.

 “As the Government heads towards publishing its white paper in the summer, the League will continue discussions around all aspects of the response, including on fan engagement, EDI and player welfare where significant work is already ongoing across the game. 

“Our shared priority remains to safeguard our football pyramid in the interests of football supporters and clubs throughout the country and we look forward to working with the Government to ensure that the reforms required are achieved as quickly as possible.”