Football regulator warns 94% of clubs are loss-making

Summarised from 6 outlets · 7 reports · Updated 13 Oct, 17:21 · Archive

The Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report finds 94% of English football's top 116 clubs are loss-making, with many technically insolvent.

The Independent Football Regulator has published its long-awaited State of the Game report, finding that the vast majority of English football clubs are in financial distress. The 250-page draft report reveals that 94% of the top 116 clubs across the Premier League, EFL and National League are loss-making. More than 60% of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent, meaning their liabilities exceed their assets.

The regulator identifies several concerning metrics. Seventeen clubs across the EFL and National League would be loss-making even if their players played for free. Around 29% of clubs reported they could not survive more than 30 days without new owner funding, while 66% could not survive for more than 90 days without such funding. Sixty per cent of clubs have no business plan.

The regulator attributes the crisis to skyrocketing revenues being outpaced by costs, particularly player wages. Clubs have spent excessively to keep up with rivals, creating what the regulator describes as a 'dangerous cocktail of rising debt and an over-reliance on owner funding'. This has created 'financial cliff-edges between and within leagues'. The average Premier League club makes more than eight times the revenues of an average Championship club.

The regulator highlights the parachute payment system, whereby relegated Premier League clubs receive staggered payments from the league. The report suggests this encourages Championship clubs to overspend in attempts to reach the Premier League. Despite over £9 billion in total revenue generated across English football, the underlying financial foundations of the pyramid are described as under intense strain.

IFR chair David Kogan told BBC Sport that the situation poses significant risk. He noted that 32 clubs are operating on only 30 days' cash, meaning they would collapse if owners stopped funding. 'If the owner chooses not to pay cash at the end of the month, those clubs go bust,' Kogan said. 'That is a very, very risky scenario.'

The report calls for urgent reform. While the regulator acknowledges the Premier League's economic success and the quality of English football competition, it warns that this success has created a massive contradiction with the financial distress of lower-league clubs. The 250-page draft report will now enter an eight-week public consultation period, with a final version to follow in spring. IFR leadership will provide further details at a press conference in Manchester.

How it is being reported

• 'State of the Game' report finds most English clubs living on financial brinkThe Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has produced a 'State of the Game' report, which has taken a forensic look at English football over the past 18 months, concluding that the game's finances are dangerously exposed, with the majority of clubs living on the edge of financial disaster.Sky Sports Football · 13 Oct, 17:24
• 'State of the Game' report finds most English clubs living on financial brinkThe Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has produced a 'State of the Game' report which has taken a forensic look at English football over the past 18 months concluding that the game's finances are dangerously exposed, with the majority of clubs living on the edge of financial disaster.Sky Sports · 13 Oct, 17:06
• English football is on the brink of financial disaster with 94 PER CENT of clubs running at a loss and nearly two-thirds of EFL clubs 'insolvent' - as shocking scale of the crisis is revealedThe Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report demands 'urgent reform' while delivering the troubling revelation that an incredible 94 per cent of clubs are loss-makingDaily Mail Sport · 13 Oct, 17:04
• Majority of English football clubs ‘on the edge of financial disaster’, landmark report findsThe independent football regulator said its ‘State of the Game’ report should serve as a ‘wake-up call’ for English football and found the majority of clubs are operating on lossesIndependent Sport · 13 Oct, 17:00
• Majority of clubs on edge of 'financial disaster' - regulatorEnglish football's finances are "dangerously exposed, with the majority of clubs living on the edge of financial disaster", a new report says.BBC News · 13 Oct, 17:00
• Football "on the edge of disaster" as extent of growing financial crisis laid bareShock report from the Independent Football Regulator reveals 94 percent of English football’s top 116 clubs - across the Premier League, EFL and National League - are loss-makingMirror Sport · 13 Oct, 17:00
• Football regulator to recommend cost controls in landmark report with 94% of clubs making lossReport published on Tuesday before consultation period It will have recommendations to improve sustainability The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) is to recommend clubs introduce greater cost controls in its long-awaited State of the Game report, to be published on Tuesday. The 250-page draft report, with a final version to follow in the spring after an eight-week public consultation beginning this week, will paint a damning picture of the financial state of English men’s football, including the stark finding that 94% of the top 116 clubs are loss-making. Continue reading...The Guardian · 12 Oct, 15:28

In this story: Independent Football Regulator · David Kogan · Richard Monks · Premier League · EFL · English Football League · Manchester · England

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem