Regulator's State of the Game Report: 94% of English Clubs Loss-Making, 60%+ of EFL and National League 'Technically Insolvent'

The Independent Football Regulator has published its landmark State of the Game report, finding that 94 per cent of clubs across the top five tiers of English football made losses in 2025-26 and that more than 60 per cent of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent, with liabilities exceeding the book value of their assets. The draft report, released on Tuesday and now entering an eight-week public consultation, concludes that English football's finances are "dangerously exposed, with the majority of clubs living on the edge of financial disaster".

A dangerous cocktail of debt and owner funding

The regulator warns of "a dangerous cocktail of rising debt and an over-reliance on owner funding, leaving clubs and their fans at risk", despite the English pyramid generating more than £9 billion in revenue. The report found that more than a quarter of clubs could not survive for more than one month if owner funding was withdrawn, and that 68 per cent have no contingency plan in place should their owner walk away — the same failure mode that left Gateshead's wages unpaid within days of a backer exiting last month.

While some of our clubs are among the richest and most competitive in the world, others are standing on the edge of financial disaster. A significant number of clubs have told us they would not survive if their owners walked away.— David Kogan, chair of the Independent Football Regulator — State of the Game report, 13 October 2026

The numbers inside the report

• 94 per cent of clubs in the top five tiers of English football were loss-making in 2025-26.
• More than 60 per cent of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent.
• 68 per cent of clubs have no contingency plan if owner funding is withdrawn; 29 per cent could not survive more than 30 days without it.
• 17 clubs across the EFL and National League would still be loss-making even if their players played for free.
• Financial cliff-edges between and within divisions have widened despite the Premier League's commercial strength.

A six-point plan and a warning shot

The IFR, established last year with a statutory duty to improve clubs' financial sustainability, set out a six-point plan: clubs should hold more cash and put robust contingency plans in place in case owner funding stops; revenue distribution should be reformed to ease cliff-edges through the pyramid; and clubs are urged to act on rising losses, show how they take fans' views into account, and improve boardroom diversity and governance. The regulator also used the report to lean on the stalled Premier League–EFL funding negotiation, reminding both leagues it has the statutory power to impose a deal.

If football can't find a solution we will consider our next steps and will not hesitate to use all the powers at our disposal to bring about lasting change.— Independent Football Regulator — State of the Game report, 13 October 2026

The leagues respond

The Premier League said in response that its proposal to the EFL — a settlement of roughly £1.8 billion over ten years in additional funding, unanimously approved by Premier League clubs in July — "meets the objectives the IFR has set out in its report", and that new funding must go hand in hand with effective financial controls. The EFL has asked for nearer £1 billion over five years, leaving the two sides still apart as the consultation opens. The report's findings were reported by BBC Sport, Sky Sports and Reuters.

The draft State of the Game report will undergo an eight-week public consultation before a final version is published. This article was written by Ines Kovač from the Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report as covered by BBC Sport, Sky Sports and Reuters.