IFR draft urges tighter cost controls after report finds 94% of top clubs loss-making
The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) published its State of the Game draft report in Manchester on Tuesday, 12 October 2026, and will recommend that clubs adopt stricter cost controls. The long-awaited study offers a comprehensive assessment of the financial position of English men’s football.
The 250-page draft, produced after almost 18 months of work under the Football Governance Act that created the IFR, states that 94% of the top 116 clubs are loss-making and sets out recommendations intended to improve sustainability. IFR chair David Kogan and chief executive Richard Monks are scheduled to set out more details at a press conference in Manchester on Tuesday.
The report is expected to prompt questions about whether the regulator could force the sale of Manchester City if the mass guilty verdicts of an independent commission are upheld on appeal; that issue is likely to dominate the Manchester briefing. As administrator of an enhanced owners, directors and senior executives test, the IFR has powers to assess the suitability of owners and executives "where there is clear evidence of wrongdoing by individuals".
EFL clubs have been awaiting the report in the hope it will strengthen their position in negotiations with the Premier League over a new financial settlement, but the draft warns that revelations of extravagant and unsustainable spending by many lower-division clubs could complicate that outcome. The report’s findings therefore have direct bearing on ongoing talks between the leagues.
The Premier League has offered the EFL a new deal worth £180m-a-year over 10 years, up from the current £150m figure, while the EFL is seeking £207m a year and the option to renegotiate after five years. The EFL has also proposed the creation of a so-called "lifeboat fund" for clubs in financial distress.
The IFR’s remit includes the power to impose a settlement on the leagues if they fail to agree terms themselves, and both the Premier League and the EFL are likely to use elements of the report to support their respective positions. The draft’s analysis and recommendations are therefore set to play a central role in those negotiations.
An eight-week public consultation on the draft begins this week, after which a final version of the State of the Game report will be published in the spring.