Financial Figures Show, / This Is a Serious Warning! Premier League on the Brink of Bankruptcy

A new report from the independent football regulatory body in England shows that 94% of clubs in the country's top five divisions were loss-making last season, and the financial ecosystem of English football is facing a structural and chronic crisis.

According to "Varzeh Se", based on the investigations of this institution, the survival of most clubs is directly dependent on the continuous injection of capital and financial assistance paid by the owners in each season. For example, in Tottenham, the Lewis family has injected 320 million pounds in just the last 1 year to compensate for past losses and stay in the competition, but this team is still struggling with the risk of relegation.

Surveys show that 67 clubs needed 6 or more capital injections and 28 clubs received financial aid at least 12 times. 76 of the 112 clubs included in this report do not have any alternative plans for when the funds are suddenly cut off by the owners, and if the investors withdraw, they will face serious risks. Also, 66% of the clubs below the Premier League are unable to continue their activities for more than 90 days without the financial assistance of the owners, and 29% of them do not even last 30 days.

The debt of English clubs has increased from 410) million pounds to 5100 million pounds in the projects of the 2026-27 season. More than 75% of that debt is in the Premier League, where finance costs have risen from £97m in 2020-21 to £455m in 2024-25. The net debt from transfers stands at £3,400m, and clubs still have £4,800m of arrears on their purchases.

Despite this amount of losses, Premier League clubs' income in the 2024-25 season reached 7,821 million pounds with an increase of 4%, which is due to the fair distribution of television and commercial rights, and the average income of clubs has increased to 338 million pounds. However, the average loss per club in the first tier has risen from £20m in 2021-22 to £44m in 2025-26.

In the championship competitions, the owners take back-breaking financial risks in order to climb to the first level and achieve television revenues of at least 125 million euros.

To deal with this financial crisis, the independent body of football supervision plans to abandon the current self-regulation system and issue new licenses to control costs and financial planning by the 2030-31 season. Also, plans to intervene in the distribution of revenues and limit the costs of team composition to 85% of total revenues are under consideration.