Majority of clubs on edge of 'financial disaster' - regulator

Key points

• 94% of clubs in the top five English leagues made losses in 2025-26, according to the independent football regulator.
• More than 60% of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent, and 66% could not survive more than 90 days without owner funding.
• The IFR warns of rising debt and over-reliance on owner funding, and says it will use all its powers if football cannot agree a new funding settlement.

English football's finances are "dangerously exposed, with the majority of clubs living on the edge of financial disaster", according to a landmark report by the independent football regulator. The watchdog's 'State of the Game' research found 94% of clubs in the top five English leagues made losses in 2025-26, and more than 60% of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent.

The regulator (IFR) warned of "a dangerous cocktail of rising debt and an over-reliance on owner funding, leaving clubs and their fans at risk". It said the financial 'cliff-edges' between and within leagues have grown significantly despite the Premier League's economic success.

Key findings in the report

The report said 17 clubs across the EFL and National League would be loss-making even if their players played for free. It found 66% of clubs could not survive more than 90 days without new owner funding, while 29% reported they could not last more than 30 days. It also said 68% of clubs have no contingency plan if their owner walks away.

The IFR claimed "the underlying foundations of the pyramid are under intense strain and require urgent reform", and said its report "should serve as a wake-up call" for English football.

We can actually fix the house while the sun is still shining and that's essentially what our role is going to be in this.

— IFR chair David Kogan

What the regulator said

IFR chair David Kogan told BBC Sport that 17 clubs are trading in such a way that if their players played for free, their non-playing costs would mean they would go bust. He said 32 clubs are operating on only 30 days' cash, adding: "If the owner chooses not to pay cash at the end of the month, those clubs go bust."

Kogan said the problems were known but the data showed how dramatic they are. The Premier League, the EFL, the Football Association and the Football Supporters' Association all issued statements welcoming the findings.