On March 19 the Football Governance Bill was introduced in Parliament, marking a significant step towards an Independent Regulator to oversee clubs in the top five tiers of football.

The proposed role has three core objectives. Firstly, to improve the financial sustainability of clubs, secondly to ensure financial resilience across the leagues by imposing stricter tests of owners and directors and, thirdly, to safeguard the future of football clubs for the benefit of their local communities.

Sadly, it will come too late for clubs like Macclesfield and Bury, and possibly for Reading where owner Dai Yongge’s failure to pay taxes and wages resulted in a six-point penalty, and his plan to sell their state of the art training ground to local rivals Wycombe Wanderers only five years after it opened infuriated fans.

The list of clubs damaged by questionable owners is, however, much longer and includes Northampton, Hereford, Notts County, Portsmouth, Southend and Blackburn amongst others.

There is a feeling that new legislation can’t come soon enough, with relegation from this season’s Premier League looking likely to be decided by point deductions, and potentially the legal system, rather than on field results, and the top 20 clubs stalling on a financial package to the EFL.

However, we’ve been here before. Way back in 1999 a similar concept was put forward but was shot down by the self-appointed “guardians of the game”, the FA, the Premier League and the Football League, who described ticket price controls as inappropriate, an independent regulator as unnecessary bureaucracy, and fan representation as “unacceptable”.

The Pink Un: A City fan enjoys himself in the win at Stoke

It seems that little has changed, and in fact attitudes at the top of the game seem to have hardened as the financial rewards have become more and more lucrative. In the words of West Ham owner David Sullivan "The Premier League is the best league in the world so why change a winning formula?”

Football is no longer a game, it’s a product as this extract from a Premier League statement demonstrates: “We remain concerned about any unintended consequences of legislation that could weaken the competitiveness and appeal of English football.”

Competitiveness? Tell that to Burnley who walked last year’s Championship but have made no impact at the top level, or Nottingham Forest who spent a fortune on “giving it a go” but then, like Everton, found themselves subject to points deductions, while watching Manchester City, subject to no less than 115 charges of breaches of Financial Fair Play rules, carry on as if nothing has happened.

A system that is quick to punish smaller clubs but not the big ones isn’t fit for purpose.

Coming back to Sullivan, one of the owners who has opposed the latest funding package to the EFL, his justification for that is very telling:

"Between the 20 clubs there is almost £2bn of debt, so there isn't really 'available cash' to give away.”

So there you have it, the rest of football must struggle to survive while Premier League clubs run up ridiculous levels of debt to try to stay in a league where perhaps four clubs have a realistic chance of becoming champions and most of the rest are just trying to stay on board the gravy train. It’s a nonsense.

However, let’s get back to City and the race for the play-offs, with Easter marking the point where the season enters the finishing straight.

Today’s game is significant, not just because the Canaries will want to continue their excellent home form, but also because the corresponding fixture is where the wheels really started to come off their season.

That unexpected hammering should be more than enough motivation, and three points this afternoon would set up Monday’s visit to a faltering Leicester City nicely.

Having dragged themselves into the top six City’s fate is now in their own hands, but if they can maintain their current form their prospects look good.