The Independent Football Regulator will recommend that clubs adopt greater cost controls in its State of the Game report, published on Tuesday. The 250-page draft, with a final version to follow in the spring after an eight-week public consultation that begins this week, paints a damning picture of the financial health of English men’s football. Its headline finding is that 94% of the top 116 clubs are loss-making.
The document will set out a series of recommendations aimed at improving sustainability, addressed to both the regulator and the clubs themselves. David Kogan, the IFR chair, and its chief executive, Richard Monks, are due to give further detail at a press conference in Manchester on Tuesday.
The scale of the losses involved is underlined by Chelsea’s Premier League-record pre-tax loss of £262.4m for the year ending 30 June 2025.
The Manchester event is expected to be dominated by questions about whether the regulator could force the sale of Manchester City if the guilty verdicts of an independent commission are upheld on appeal. Under its enhanced owners, directors and senior executives regime, the IFR holds powers to assess the suitability of owners and executives “where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals”.
The report stems from the Football Governance Act, which created the IFR. It has taken almost 18 months to produce and is described as the most detailed study ever undertaken of the football industry and its finances.
EFL clubs have been waiting for the report in the hope it will lend them greater impetus as they continue negotiating with the Premier League over a new financial settlement. It may not necessarily do so, however, given the details it could reveal about extravagant and unsustainable spending by many lower-division clubs. The Premier League has offered the EFL a deal worth £180m a year over 10 years, a significant increase on the current £150m figure, while the EFL is seeking £207m a year along with the option to renegotiate after five years. The EFL has also proposed the creation of a so-called “lifeboat fund” for clubs in financial distress.
The IFR has the power to impose a settlement on the leagues if they cannot reach agreement themselves, and both sides are likely to seize on elements of the report to bolster their arguments.