English football 'dangerously exposed' to financial risk, regulator finds
The regulator said clubs need stronger cost controls and contingency plans as debt, wages and transfer financing strain the game.
- On Tuesday, the Independent Football Regulator published its draft "State of the Game" report, finding that 94 per cent of clubs in England's top five divisions lost money last season despite generating £9 billion in revenue.
- The regulator warned of a "dangerous cocktail of rising debt and an over-reliance on owner funding," leaving clubs operating on financial "cliff edges" while pursuing an unsustainable spending model.
- Data revealed 32 clubs operate on only 30 days' cash while 17 clubs would be loss-making even if players played for free, as reliance on "transfer financing" reached £779 million last season.
- The IFR called for "urgent reform" to protect clubs' financial sustainability, while the Premier League and English Football League continue discussions on a new financial settlement despite ongoing negotiations.
- By 2030, clubs must meet "Appropriate Financial Resources" requirements under IFR licensing rules, though CEO Richard Monks warned regulators must anticipate "creative compliance" as teams push financial boundaries.
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39 Articles
Behind the large indices and revenues, another picture reveals the reality of English football, where many clubs face threats to their viability, amid warnings about the consequences of increasing dependency on owners' funds.
Majority of English football clubs on the brink of financial disaster, bombshell report finds
English football has been warned to "act before it is too late" after an independent review found the majority of clubs are making a concerning amount of losses. The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has produced its first draft of the highly anticipated "State of the Game" report - and the findings make for stark, if unsurprising, reading.According to the document, English football generated £9billion in revenue last year. But despite this, …
A report by the IFR regulator warns of a financial disaster in English football.
English football is in a bad mood: while the Premier League is always implementing new records, hardly anything of the money in the league pyramid comes from it. The supervisory authority is alarmed.
English football clubs face "dangerously large" financial risks. This is stated in the first report by the independent regulator IFR, which was established last year. "Some clubs are among the richest and best in the world, but others are on the brink of a financial disaster," the report states.
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