The English Football League are expected to overhaul their Financial Fair Play model to limit clubs to spending 70 percent of revenue.
Teams in the second tier are currently permitted losses of up to £39million over three years – or more if they have spent one or two of the previous three seasons in the Premier League - and face potential points deductions as penalties for breaches. Now, the Championship is being tipped to abandon the one size fits all cap and instead echo changes to Uefa's new model. Major changes are also in line to the parachute payment system for sides who have been relegated from the Premier League.
Talks are ongoing between the EFL and Premier League, who are both awaiting the Government’s verdict on Tracey Crouch’s review of football regulation before committing to the next step. New rules would mean significant changes to the transfer and wage budgets of clubs in the Championship – and the most recent accounts give a good idea of potential spending power in the division.
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Most teams have now filed financial returns for 2020/21, while we can also incorporate match day income from 2018/19 – the last full season with supporters allowed in for games before the pandemic. It is clear to see the impact of parachute payments, which were introduced in 2006/07 to try to soften the blow of relegation from the top-flight and the subsequent fall in guaranteed broadcast revenue from £100m to about £8m.
The payments are made in decreasing amounts over three years as clubs realign their finances. However, opponents claim it creates distorted competition and makes relegated sides the runaway favourites each year to win promotion.
Fulham top the chart for 2020/21 revenue, with £116.1m, as they finished 18th in the Premier League. Meanwhile, Blackpool, who finished third in League One and won promotion via the play-offs, pocketed £5.4m.
Nottingham Forest’s turnover for 2020/21, which covered a 13-month period rather than the usual 12, was £18.4m. That was a drop from £25.3m in their previous set of accounts, with the Reds pointing to “a significant decrease” in revenue streams due to “major losses in ticketing and catering income” as a result of the pandemic.
Sheffield United (£14.2m) and Stoke City (£12m) top the table for commercial revenue. Forest are further down the rankings on that front, with £5.6m.
In terms of pre-pandemic match day income, Fulham are top with £10.7m. They finished 19th in the Premier League in 2018/19 under Slavisa Jokanovic, Claudio Ranieri and Scott Parker. Cardiff City posted match day income of £7.9m in 2018/19, when they finished third-bottom in the Premier League, while it was £7.6m for the Reds, who were ninth in the Championship that season.
Figures have been used from 2019/20 for West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City, who are yet to publish accounts for the following season. Peterborough do not break down turnover. Derby County, in administration, have not published accounts since 2018.
When releasing their accounts for 2020/21, Forest’s strategic report said: “The owners remain committed to the long-term future of the club and its funding. The board sees remaining within the discipline of the EFL’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules to be a high priority which is even more challenging following the pandemic.”
