Independent regulator report says English football finances are ‘dangerously exposed’

The report says the financial situation is worsening for clubs across the EFL and National League.

Most Championship, League One and League Two clubs hold less than 30 days of cash.

More than 60% of EFL and National League clubs have liabilities exceeding the book value of their assets.

It is a bleak picture for wages, too.

Twenty clubs – primarily in the Championship, League One and National League -spent more than 80% of revenue on player wages.

The majority of League One clubs spend more than 40% of revenue on player wages, including two spending more than 100%.

Wage costs have increased across all leagues between 2021-22 and 2025-26:

Seventeen of 18 (94%) EFL club owners surveyed were in favour of more robust cost controls – as one investor told the report: “the single biggest issue is player wages”.

Average League One losses increased from 6% of revenue in 1992-93 to almost 50% in 2024-25. In League Two, it stands at 40%.

Many clubs rely on owner funding on a just-in-time basis, receiving frequent injections throughout the year.

The majority of EFL and National League clubs do not have a contingency plan if their owner becomes unable or unwilling to continue financing operations.

This leaves them particularly exposed given their limited access to alternative sources of finance.

“League One and the League Two clubs will receive significantly more funding [through a new deal with the Premier League],” Kogan said.

“That funding will be used along with a development fund and a liquidity fund potentially to help them get over the humps they’re all currently facing.”

In respect of both liquidity and solvency, the report says many football clubs “would not currently meet the requirement under the Football Governance Act to hold ‘appropriate financial resources’.”

Clubs are required to meet this standard by May 2030.

“Owners are very well aware of the need now for some sort of coherent structure in which costs are being managed,” Kogan said.

Kogan added that the new financial distribution deal between the Premier League and the EFL is close.