Regulator urges cost controls after widespread club losses

The Independent Football Regulator is preparing to recommend stronger cost controls for English football clubs after its State of the Game report found that 94% of clubs were loss-making. The draft report, published in October 2026, examines the financial position of the top levels of the English men’s game and is followed by planned consultation and further regulatory action.¹³

Financial findings

The regulator’s research found that 94% of clubs were operating at a loss, while more than 60% of clubs in the English Football League and National League were technically insolvent. The report said English football’s finances were “dangerously exposed”, despite the game generating more than £9bn in revenue, according to the regulator’s findings reported by the BBC and Sky Sports.²³

Sky Sports reported that 17 EFL and National League clubs had operating costs higher than their revenues. It also said more than a quarter of clubs could not continue for longer than a month if owner funding stopped, and that 32 clubs had fewer than 30 days of cash cover in their accounts.²

The report identifies substantial gaps across the game. Sky Sports said the average Premier League club generated more than eight times the revenue of an average Championship club, while player wage inflation and the pursuit of promotion were among factors threatening clubs’ stability.²

Regulatory response

The regulator is expected to propose greater controls on club costs and measures intended to improve sustainability, according to The Guardian. Its plan includes requiring clubs to maintain more cash and robust contingency arrangements, while longer-term cost controls would be developed with the leagues, Sky Sports reported.¹²

David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator, said the regulator saw sharply different financial positions across English football. “So what we are trying to do is get ahead of the problem and take an interventionist approach with individual clubs that need it,” he said.²

The regulator plans to license clubs from November and to assess their financial exposures directly, according to Sky Sports. Clubs would be required to submit business plans showing more than 30 days of cash cover. The regulator also has powers to assess owners and senior figures where there is “clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals”, The Guardian reported.¹²

Distribution negotiations

The Premier League and EFL have continued talks over a new distribution agreement without reaching a settlement, according to Sky Sports. The Guardian reported that the Premier League offered £180m a year over 10 years, while the EFL sought £207m annually and the ability to reopen the arrangement after five years; the current figure is £150m a year.¹²

The EFL has proposed a fund for clubs in financial distress. The regulator has said revenue distribution should be changed to reduce financial cliff-edges across the football pyramid and would prefer the leagues to reach their own agreement. If they do not, it can use a back-stop power to impose a settlement.¹²

The draft State of the Game report is 250 pages, according to The Guardian, and was produced over almost 18 months. The newspaper reported that an eight-week public consultation is planned before a final report in spring.¹