English football faces financial ruin, new regulator reports

The initial report from the independent regulator of UK football paints a devastating picture of a sport facing a financial crisis unless it changes course.

The research shows “how it is possible for English club football to simultaneously be the richest, best and most deeply competitive in the world while also standing on the edge of financial disaster”, said the report’s opening statement attributed to the entity’s chair, David Kogan, and Richard Monks, its chief executive officer.

With access to the financial performance of the 116 clubs it oversees, the regulator – instituted by a 2025 law – says that nearly all teams are reporting losses amid rising costs for players and infrastructure such as upgrading stadiums.

To keep up, they have had to take on debt – often at high interest rates – or seek infusions from owners. About two-thirds of clubs would not survive 90 days without such help from owners, according to the report.

Another main point of the report is that investing in English football has become a bad bet for many owners.

Over a period of five seasons through 2025-26, investors in clubs across the top five leagues were estimated to have lost 41% of their original investment. During the same span, investment in the FTSE 100 would have generated a return of more than 36%, the report said.

Financial returns were strongly associated with sporting performance. Promoted clubs generated 85% return, rising to 187% if they reached the Premier League. Clubs that remained in same league or got relegated lost between 67% and 75%.

“We are absolutely bound by one thing, and that one thing is regulating football and regulating football clubs,” Kogan said at a press conference in Manchester ahead of the report’s release. 

The finances of British football have been in the spotlight since last month when the Premier League said an investigation showed that top-performing club Manchester City had breached financial rules for nearly a decade in a move that gave it more room within the league’s limits to spend on players. 

Kogan said he would resign if he faced political pressure in the Manchester City case. 

“Our independence is absolute, and my independence personally is absolute,” he said at the press conference.

“Just to be crystal clear, we’ve come under absolutely no political pressure whatsoever on this or any other topic, and I don’t expect to in the future.”

The charges against Manchester City, who have maintained their innocence, came after the club’s takeover in 2008 by a company backed by the brother of the UAE’s president.

That acquisition was part of an international investment boom in English football and an unprecedented surge in spending on players.

One telling example is in the transfer market. Last season, English football as a whole paid £4.8 billion (S$8.16 billion) in transfer fees to acquire talent, while only getting back £1.5 billion for selling players. 

The report notes that although teams pay off transfer fees over several years, that kind of financing creates more stress on balance sheets and the need for cash injections.

One theme reiterated throughout the report is the wide discrepancy in financial performance between Premier League clubs, especially those that play in European competitions, and the rest of the sport. 

“Growing revenues have not been shared in a proportionate way, creating cliff edges between and within leagues,” the report said. 

The highest earning Premier League club now earns 605 times the revenue of the lowest earning club in the National League.

That is the tier Wrexham played in when the Welsh club was bought in 2021 by a group that includes Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds; it has since been promoted three times and is one step below the Premier League.

In a statement, the Premier League said it will work with the regulator and other stakeholders on a solution led by clubs. 

The report offered a six-point action plan to reduce financial risk, which includes reform of the revenue distribution; getting clubs to reduce losses and better manage financial risk. The regulator said it will step in if the necessary changes are not made. 

The report “clearly highlights the unsustainable, broken model of football’s finances”, Tom Greatrex, chair of the Football Supporters’ Association, said in a statement.

“This is an alarm call for English men’s professional football that must precipitate real and lasting change.” BLOOMBERG