A Premier League shareholders’ meeting held on Friday (November 21) has introduced new financial rules, with two proposals set to come into effect from the 2026-27 season.
GIVEMESPORT’s senior football correspondent Ben Jacobs relaid a statement that clubs voted on the introduction of new proposals at a meeting. Club owners agreed to the “Squad Cost Ratio” and “Sustainability and Systematic Resilience” proposals, although the “Top to Bottom Anchoring” proposal was rejected.
SCR will regulate clubs’ spending to 85 per cent of their football revenue and net profit/loss on player sales. There will also be a “multi-year allowance of 30 per cent to spend in excess of the 85 per cent and this will replace the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).
Premier League Clubs Vote On New Financial Rules
Jacobs delved into the outcome of the shareholders’ meeting and the new proposals that will be put in place come next season. He relaid on his X account:
“At a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting today, clubs voted to introduce a new set of financial rules which will come into effect from the start of the 2026/27 season. Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) and Sustainability and Systematic Resilience (SSR) proposals will be introduced, but there was insufficient support for a Top-to-Bottom Anchoring proposal.”
Top-to-bottom anchoring was a proposal to limit clubs’ spending on wages and transfer fees to five times the amount paid in prize money and broadcast revenue to the club which finished bottom, per The Athletic.
Jacobs added:
“SCR will regulate clubs’ on-pitch spending to 85 per cent of their football revenue and net profit/loss on player sales. Clubs will have a multi-year allowance of 30% that they can use to spend in excess of the 85 per cent. Utilising this allowance will incur a levy and once the allowance is exhausted, they will need to comply with 85% or face a sporting sanction.”
“The new SCR rules are intended to promote opportunity for all clubs to aspire to greater success and brings the League’s financial system close to UEFA’s existing SCR rules which operate at a threshold of 70 per cent. The other key features of the League’s new system include transparent in-season monitoring and sanctions, protection against sporting underperformance, an ability to spend ahead of revenues, strengthened ability to invest off the pitch, and a reduction in complexity by focusing on football costs.”
Premier League clubs have been working together to help develop more financial controls:
“The Sustainability and Systemic Resilience rules assess a club’s short, medium and long-term financial health through three tests – Working Capital Test, Liquidity Test and Positive Equity Test. Since 2023, the Premier League and our clubs have worked collaboratively to develop the financial controls with the objective of maintaining the League’s value, protecting competitive balance and ensuring clubs operate in a financially sustainable way. “
“The process has included extensive consultation at Shareholder level at clubs, as well as senior finance and legal executives, and club working groups. In addition, independent economic and legal analysis was sought.”
“As part of the development of the proposed rules, clubs agreed at the Premier League Annual General Meeting in June 2024 to trial SCR and TBA on a non-binding basis. The shadow monitoring of SCR and TBA rules has also continued this season.
“This enabled the League and clubs to fully evaluate the system, including the operation of UEFA’s equivalent SCR regulations, and to complete the consultation with all relevant stakeholders, including the PFA and football agents.”
The meeting and subsequent vote have concluded a two-year process that involved trialling SCR and TBA last season. There has long been criticism over PSR as it often favoured established clubs while restricting clubs such as Newcastle United and Aston Villa from spending heavily, as seen this past summer.
