Football in England is on the precipice of meltdown, with “financial disaster” around the corner.
That's according to the new Independent Football Regulator, whose State of the Game report reveals that should owners pull their funding from clubs, a significant number would fold within 30 days – with chair David Kogan explaining the “massive contradiction” between the wealth of Premier League clubs and the debt throughout the English footballing pyramid.
Perhaps most worryingly for fans, 94 per cent of English football’s top 116 clubs are currently making losses.
245-page report highlights Bury, Wigan and Derby County as case studies
The new report – out today – has set out a six-point plan to save clubs from a potential ruin on the horizon, with worrying statistics coming out.
The IFR suggests that revenue distribution should be reformed, with changes highlighting financial stability, with clubs improving how they manage financial risk and acting with transparency towards their fans.
The highest wage bill in the Premier League currently sits at £364 million a year, according to the report – and though average club revenue has risen by over 2,000 per cent, wages have gone up by 5,000 per cent, demonstrating quite how much is being spent at the top level.
Dozens of clubs have been warned that they are on the brink, with parachute payments at risk of being scaled back, too, with IFR Chair David Kogan calling the game “bloody risky”.
“At the heart of English football’s success is a massive contradiction,” he said. “While some of our clubs are among the richest and most competitive in the world, others are standing on the edge of financial disaster.
“Skyrocketing revenues have been outpaced by costs which in turn have pushed up debt, loss-making and an over-reliance on owner funding.
“A significant number of clubs that told us they would not survive if their owners walked away. This lack of resilience can no longer be ignored. Anyone reading this report can be in no doubt about the need for intervention.
“Football has always been bloody risky but now if you fail the failure is much harder to take because the numbers are so much bigger and that’s where we come in.”
Premier League action continues this weekend.
