Premier League clubs can no longer sell hotels or women’s team to comply with PSR
Chelsea sold two Stamford Bridge hotels to a sister company last year.
Premier League clubs will no longer be able to sell hotels or their women’s teams to get around spending controls after the competition agreed to a new financial rulebook.
At a meeting on Friday, 14 of the Premier League’s 20 clubs voted in favour of a Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) system to replace the existing profitability and sustainability rules (PSR). The clubs also voted overwhelmingly against the introduction of controversial anchoring plans.
Under SCR, clubs will be asked to limit spending on squad costs - including transfer fees and player wages - to within 85% of their football-related revenue and net profit/loss from player sales. The sale of capital assets is not included within this allowance.
In July, Everton sold their women’s team to Roundhouse Capital Holdings, a parent company controlled by club owner, Dan Friedkin. The move was made with the intention of attracting new investment for Everton Women but also impacted the Merseysiders’ PSR calculation, allowing greater room for transfer spending.
Chelsea achieved a similar feat last year when they sold two Stamford Bridge hotels to a sister company. Both moves were approved by the Premier League under existing rules but would not be allowed under the new regulations.
SCR will be in place from next season and could see clubs deducted points for the following campaign if rules are breached excessively. If clubs exceed the 85% spending level, known as the “green threshold”, they will be liable to a fine. Exceeding a “red threshold” of 115% of spending will result in a sporting sanction, most likely the deduction of points. Any fines will be put into a collective pot and shared between teams who have fully complied with SCR.
SCR will exist alongside a similar set of constraints imposed by Uefa on clubs in European competition, rules which this season apply to nine Premier League clubs. The six clubs who voted against SCR are understood to be Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leeds.
The proposal to introduce top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA) was rejected by 12 votes to seven, with one abstention, as clubs turned against plans that would have imposed a hard cap on squad costs at a multiple of the football revenues of the league’s lowest side. The vote followed threats of possible legal action from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) and player agencies.
A third measure, referred to as sustainability and systematic resilience (SSR), was approved unanimously. This system will look to test clubs to ensure they have sufficient funds to cope with short, medium and long-term financial risks.
The Premier League said it had developed the new financial system through “extensive consultation with clubs and a wide range of stakeholders” and that it was devised to work “effectively in parallel with Uefa’s rules and is consistent with the objectives of the Independent Football Regulator”.
The Premier League also announced it would push back the start of next season by one week to give players more time to recuperate after the World Cup. The opening match round will begin on the weekend of Saturday 22 August 2026, 33 days after the World Cup final, and the final round will be on Sunday 30 May 2027. There will be a return to a more traditional Boxing Day fixture list, after only one game was scheduled for this year.
