Tony Lloyd took his green-and-gold scarf into a Parliamentary debate as he called for major reforms in the way football clubs - including Manchester United - are owned.

The Manchester Central MP, and lifelong Reds fan, said a lack of regulation was damaging football just as it had damaged the banks.

He called for the government to impose limits on the debt clubs could rack up, give a bigger say to fans, and put stricter controls on who could and could not own teams.

The move came with United fans' 'green and gold' campaign against the Glazer family's ownership of the club gathering pace. The protest, which uses the colours of the Newton Heath team which which United sprang, came about after a bond issue was drawn up to manage a £716m debt.

And Premier League strugglers Portsmouth were yesterday granted a seven-day stay of execution over tax debts which it was claimed in the High Court amount to £11.5m.

Mr Lloyd, who secured and led the debate, told the M.E.N: "I am concerned as a United fan.

“We saw a big money takeover with a lot of debt involved.

"My concern is about money generated by the football club either going to either the creditors or owners and not back into the club.

"But the same concerns apply to Liverpool, or Portsmouth, or West Ham, and other clubs - not just in the Premier League.

"We have seen the deregulated banks making huge mistakes and we have all paid the price.

Regulation

"We accepted regulation there - and we have to do the same with football."

Mr Lloyd – the chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party – said he wanted to see an American-style football regulator.

In the US, an independent body imposes strict limits on appropriate maximum debt levels for sporting franchises based on factors like size and turnover.

The MP also appeared to refer to the John Terry affair when he spoke about football captains of the past, like Billy Wright, providing 'role models' for youngsters.

“Most of us grew up with these people who had values that carried through into life,” he said.

“We should not put that in peril by saying that football is only a commodity. If we do we betray this beautiful game of ours.”

Mr Lloyd has already put down a parliamentary motion claiming the state of the professional game is 'causing concern'.

It notes the 'further concern' that 'the controlling interests in the clubs do not obviously demonstrate long-term commitment to the clubs involved and to the health of football in general'.

It calls for football fans to be given 'a tangible stake in the clubs they have helped build and still support' and calls on the government and football authorities to 'create a binding framework which will regulate club debt and those people who are involved in football'.