Stefan Borson: Premier League clubs face ‘big issue’ after new financial rules approved
Premier League clubs will operate under new financial rules from the start of next season following a recent vote.
At the latest meeting of the Premier League clubs on 21 November, the 20 top-flight sides voted 14 to six in favour of the squad cost ratio (SCR) system being adopted from the 2026-27 campaign onwards.
Under the SCR rules, clubs will only be able to spend 85 per cent of their revenue on squad costs, while that figure drops to 70 per cent for teams competing in European competitions.
However, the Premier League’s salary-cap plans suffered a blow after its top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA) proposal only received the support of seven clubs, with 14 votes required for any motion to be approved.
The introduction of the TBA rules would have seen clubs only be allowed to spend five times the amount the bottom side receives on squad-related costs, such as wages, agents’ fees and amortisation.
Premier League’s ‘best-run clubs’ voted against new rules
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the “big issue” facing the top-flight sides is the new system isn’t going to suit all of them.
Premier League clubs currently operate under the profit and sustainability rules (PSR), where they are only permitted to make £105million of losses over a rolling three-year period.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I think it was pretty clear that we weren’t going to get anchoring. I guess the only interesting question is why they decided to go through the charade of voting for it. It’s hard to say really, but clearly it was nowhere near getting through.
“Slightly more interesting was SCR coming in on a knife edge. Six teams voted against it. Ironically, some of the best-run clubs in the division probably were the ones that voted against it.
“Actually, if you were to take a look at on paper who the six best-run clubs are from a cost perspective, you wouldn’t be far off that list. It’s quite interesting that those are the ones that voted against it.
“I think the big issue that they’ve always got is that no one size fits all. It’s very hard to know with any level of certainty that this system will be better than the last system, will create fewer issues, or will be seen as being fairer by the fans.”
It is understood Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leeds United all voted against the SCR rules being adopted.
Chelsea and Aston Villa fined under SCR rules
There are nine Premier League clubs already operating under Uefa’s version of the SCR rules.
Uefa confirmed in July both Chelsea and Aston Villa had breached its financial rules.
Chelsea were fined £26.7m and could be fined a further £51.2m if they don’t comply with the governing body’s rules in the next four years.
Meanwhile, Aston Villa were fined £9.5m, with the potential of a further £12.9m penalty if they fail to comply in a three-year period.
The punishments related to a breach of Uefa’s football earnings regulations and the SCR rules, where clubs in European competitions were required to keep spending on player wages and fees to 80 per cent of their revenue in 2023-2024.
However, the control ratio dropped to 70 per cent last season and will remain at that level moving forward.