The Independent Football Regulator’s draft State of the Game report has delivered a stark warning about the shape of English football: the money at the top is flowing, but much of the game beneath it is under serious strain. David Kogan said 94 per cent of the 160 clubs the IFR regulates are trading unprofitably, a figure that underlines just how fragile the pyramid has become.
On Tuesday, the IFR published the report after taking a forensic look at English football over the past 18 months. The headline numbers are hard to ignore. Last season, English football generated £9bn in revenue, yet the report says 32 clubs have less than 30 days’ cash cover in their accounts, and more than 60 per cent of EFL and National League clubs are technically insolvent.
Two very different football economies
Kogan said the report exposes “two completely different positions” in the game. On one hand, the Premier League’s success has driven economic growth across English football. On the other, clubs lower down the pyramid are facing rising operating costs and shrinking room for error.
That is the central tension in the IFR’s findings. The game is generating huge revenue, but that does not mean the money is reaching clubs in a way that makes them secure. More than a quarter of clubs could not survive for more than one month without owner funding, which is why the regulator is placing so much emphasis on liquidity and cash cover rather than just headline income.
Why the IFR is worried now
Kogan’s warning was direct: “We have 32 clubs that have got less than 30 days’ cash cover in their accounts. So if the owner walks away or drops dead, they're insolvent and go bust.” That is the kind of language that shows how serious the regulator believes the problem has become.
He also said the issue is not simply about revenue, but about management and rising debt. In his view, the challenge is to get ahead of the problem before the financial weather changes. “What we're implying is today there's enough money going through into the Premier League and the EFL and into their individual clubs for the sun to shine,” he said. “This is exactly the moment when we need to address structural issues because once that sun stops shining, those clubs will be in real trouble.”
The IFR says it now wants to take an interventionist approach with clubs that need it, aiming to help create a more stable future. That will be the key test from here. The report has set out the scale of the problem; the next question is whether football’s powerbrokers are willing to act before more clubs are pushed to the edge.
