SHARON Brittan branded the Premier League as “arrogant” and “not fit for purpose” in an impassioned speech to MPs at a select committee at Parliament.

The Bolton Wanderers chairman answered questions on the Football Governance Bill, which is pushing for independent regulation in the top five tiers of the game.

The legislation has already had first and second readings in the House of Commons, but Ms Brittan was one of several key figures in the EFL called upon to give their input to politicians, including Bolton West MP Chris Green and former Minister for Sport, Tracey Crouch.

Asked about a statement made by the Premier League and its chief executive Richard Masters that the bill could have “unintended consequences” or to “slow down” development of English football, Ms Brittan said she could not understand the reticence being shown by the top tier to embrace and independent regulator.

She said: “I like to look at both sides of the story, from the EFL and from the Premier League side, and I don’t understand ‘unintended consequences’ I can’t even work out what he is referring to.

“Unless I am missing something, I can understand the EFL’s arguments very clearly but from the Premier League’s point of view nothing has been presented to me so far that I have thought ‘do you know what, that makes sense.’

“I think they have conducted themselves poorly, presented themselves in the right way, I think they are arrogant and think they are an island on their own, forgetting that 14 of the clubs in the Premier League come from the EFL.

“To illustrate how the Premier League does work together, we loaned two players over the last couple of seasons, James Trafford and Conor Bradley, and both went back to their respective clubs absolutely flying, and talking about their time at Bolton Wanderers.

“I could bring players in here now who will say they have never worked in a culture like this. People need to work in the right culture to bring the best out of them.

“Unintended consequences? I’d love to sit down with Richard and have him explain to me what that means. They are just words. There is no substance behind the words, no argument behind the words. I haven’t come across yet a cohesive argument where I could say ‘OK, that’s a fair point.’ “We all know the numbers, and in my opinion this is back to greed, envy, jealousy, and thinking about me, myself and I.

“I cannot comprehend how someone can view this through that lens when we are a football pyramid, and what we do as custodians affects this county and beyond. We should be cherishing what we have here.”

LISTEN: Sharon Brittan speaks to MPs in the select committee. Press play below.

Ms Brittan was critical of the rising numbers of foreign-owned clubs in the top flight, which she feels has helped further the disconnect between the top flight and the rest of the pyramid.

“I have the trust of the fans, I work with them, I am there day-to-day, Saturday afternoon,” she said. “I think British owners understand English football. I was brought up in English football from age zero to now and we are losing that as well – even if it that is a different conversation.”

Later she added: “The Premier League have allowed 13 of our precious 20 clubs to be owned by Americans. It needs just one more and they have the vote. How has that been allowed to happen?

“The Premier League stop FA Cup replays without consulting us. How has that been allowed to happen?

“The Premier League is not fit for purpose, in my opinion.”