English football is still more powerful, more lucrative than ever with its 10 billion euros in revenue and more generated last season thanks to the supercharged locomotive that is the Premier League. And yet the football situation across the Channel is indeed worrying.
The Daily Mail this Wednesday shares the conclusions of a 245-page report freshly published by the Independent Football Regulator (IFR). An alarming report showing financial losses for 94% of English clubs, all divisions combined. 60% of English Football League (EFL) and National League clubs are even insolvent!
An astronomical cumulative debt
While the English elite alone has made it possible to amass more than 8 billion euros in revenue, the explosion in payroll does not allow English football to enrich itself. Between the 2021-2022 and 2025-2026 financial years, this expenditure precisely increased by 33% in the Premier League – 32% in the Championship. Commissions paid to agents would also have jumped in the meantime, from 375 to 691 million euros.
In total, the overall debt of English clubs reached 4.85 billion euros in 2025 – compared to 3.3 billion euros in 2021. The projections issued to date are counting on a slate of 6 billion euros at the end of the 2026-2027 season. “ While some of our clubs are among the richest and most competitive in the world, others are on the brink of financial disaster », Deplores David Kogan, president of the IFR, quoted by the Daily Mail.
