English football has never been a game short of money; it has often been a game short of cash when the bills land. A new assessment of the sport’s finances paints that old problem in sharper colours, with 94% of clubs across the top five divisions posting losses in 2025-26 and much of the EFL and National League operating on a remarkably thin financial margin.
A pyramid under pressure
The Independent Football Regulator’s State of the Game report says the foundations beneath the Premier League are under severe strain, despite the wealth at the summit. It describes clubs as dangerously exposed to mounting debt and increasingly dependent on their owners to keep the lights on.
More than 60% of EFL and National League sides are technically insolvent, meaning their liabilities exceed the book value of their assets. The regulator believes the figures should serve as a warning to the whole game and has called for urgent reform.
- Seventeen EFL and National League clubs would still make losses if they paid their players nothing.
- Sixty-six per cent of clubs could not continue for more than 90 days without fresh owner funding.
- Twenty-nine per cent say they would run out of money inside 30 days.
- Sixty-eight per cent have no contingency plan should their owner withdraw financial support.
- Most Championship, League One and League Two clubs hold less than 30 days’ cash.
David Kogan, chair of the regulator, said 17 clubs had non-playing costs high enough to take them under even with a free squad. He gave an equally stark reading of the cash position: 32 clubs have only a month’s funding available, and would fail if an owner chose not to make their usual month-end payment.
“That is a very, very risky position,” Kogan said. “We need to deal with these issues before the money starts to dry up.” He said the regulator’s task was to repair the house while the weather remained fair.
The report identifies six areas of financial concern and asks clubs to produce credible plans for the prospect of an owner stepping away. It also wants clubs to show how supporters’ views are reflected in decision-making, alongside steps being taken to improve diversity and governance in boardrooms.
The gap beneath the Premier League
For all the Premier League’s commercial strength, the distance between its clubs and the rest has stretched considerably. A typical Premier League club now brings in more than eight times the revenue of a typical Championship side.
| Season | Average Premier League revenue | Average Championship revenue | Premier League multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-93 | £10.5m | £3.9m | 2.7 |
| 2024-25 | £341m | £38.9m | 8.7 |
The divide is also widening inside divisions. In the Premier League, the six highest-earning clubs now account for 56% of all competition revenue, leaving 44% for the other 14. In 1992-93, the average revenue advantage held by those leading six was £9.4m; by 2024-25 it had risen to £421m.
The Championship has its own uneven playing field, shaped in part by parachute payments for clubs relegated from the top flight. The regulator argues that these payments encourage Championship teams to spend beyond their means, adding to player wage inflation.
- A Championship club without a recent Premier League relegation received £0.9m in solidarity payments in 2007-08; by 2025-26, that figure had reached £5.3m.
- A club entering the Championship after relegation received £12m in its first year in 2007-08.
- That first-year parachute figure had climbed to £48.7m by 2025-26.
The result is a league in which clubs may occupy the same table but work with radically different resources. The Premier League and EFL remain locked in long-running talks over a fresh funding settlement that would distribute more top-flight money down the pyramid.
Kogan said a deal was close and that League One and League Two clubs would receive substantially more funding under it. He said a development fund and a liquidity fund could help clubs through their current difficulties.
The regulator can impose a settlement if football’s authorities cannot reach one themselves. Its position is that, should the game fail to produce a solution, it will consider further action and use its available powers to secure lasting change. The Premier League, EFL, Football Association and Football Supporters’ Association have all welcomed the report’s findings.
Wages, transfer debt and owner dependence
The cost of players remains the central burden. Twenty clubs, mainly from the Championship, League One and the National League, spent more than 80% of their income on player wages. Most League One sides spent above 40%, while two clubs paid out more in player salaries than they generated in revenue.
Labour costs have risen throughout the professional game between 2021-22 and 2025-26.
- Premier League wages rose by 33%.
- Championship wages increased by 32%.
- League One wages climbed by 71%.
- League Two wages went up by 63%.
The damage is clear in the lower divisions. Average League One losses have grown from 6% of turnover in 1992-93 to almost 50% in 2024-25. In League Two, average losses are now close to 40% of income.
Among 18 EFL owners surveyed, 17 — 94% — backed tighter cost controls. One investor put the issue simply: “The biggest problem is player wages.” Kogan said owners understood the need for a coherent system capable of controlling spending.
The transfer market is another growing exposure. Clubs have increasingly borrowed against fees they expect to receive in the future, turning transfer receivables into immediate cash. That form of transfer financing has become an ever more significant source of liquidity.
| Measure | 2020-21 | Latest figure |
|---|---|---|
| Transfer financing | £55m | £779m in 2024-25 |
| Future transfer income monetised through financing arrangements | — | About £1.2bn |
The £779m figure for 2024-25 was more than 14 times the level recorded four years earlier. The roughly £1.2bn of future transfer receipts now monetised is close to 22 times the 2020-21 amount.
English clubs also owe far more in transfer instalments than they are due to receive. During 2025-26, they held around £4.8bn in outstanding transfer payables against only £1.5bn in expected receipts, leaving net market debt of about £3.3bn. The regulator warns that deferred payments and deal financing create more links between clubs, owners and lenders, increasing the chance that financial difficulty spreads across the game.
Time for the game to act
Kogan said football had never operated as a wholly solvent, efficient industry over the past century. Yet he believes the scale of modern revenues has made the extremes more dangerous: greater sums have amplified both the rewards and the risks.
The regulator itself was taken aback by the completed research. Kogan said it knew problems existed, but had not expected the data to reveal them in such dramatic fashion.
Many EFL and National League clubs rely on owners making regular injections exactly when cash is needed, while having limited access to alternative finance. That dependence becomes especially precarious when so few have prepared for an owner’s exit.
The report also says many clubs would not presently meet the Football Governance Act requirement to possess “adequate financial resources”. Every club must comply with that standard before May 2030.
That leaves English football with a familiar argument, but a less comfortable set of numbers. The Premier League continues to generate vast wealth, while below it clubs chase promotion, fend off the drop and wait for the next payment with a degree of urgency no league table can properly show.
