What is the EFL Squad Cost Ratio (SCR)?

SCR is a financial rule limiting a club's spending on its playing squad to a set percentage of its football revenue. From 2026/27 the limit is 85% of adjusted income in both the Premier League and the Championship, replacing the old PSR loss-based system.

How is SCR different from PSR?

PSR judged clubs on losses over a rolling three-year period. SCR instead caps squad spending as a proportion of current revenue, and is monitored during the season rather than after the fact.

How much can a Championship club spend under SCR?

Roughly 85% of football revenue on squad costs - wages, transfer fee amortisation and agent fees. Clubs may also use an owner equity top-up of up to £34.3m over three years, capped at £16m in any single season.

When do the SCR rules start?

SCR is enforceable from the 2026/27 season, which is now under way. During 2025/26 it ran 'in shadow' alongside PSR, which was the binding rule until then.

Plain English. No jargon. The answer first.

Football's spending rules, explained

Q: How does Premier League SCR differ from the Championship's?

Both cap squad cost at 85% of adjusted football revenue. The Championship lets owners add up to £16m a season (£34.3m over three years) in equity on top. The Premier League has no owner top-up; instead every club starts with a 30% allowance above 85%, giving a 115% Red Threshold, and that allowance shrinks after any breach. Premier League clubs in Europe are also bound by UEFA's separate 70% squad cost rule.

Q: What counts as squad cost under SCR?

Squad costs under SCR include player wages, transfer fee amortisation (the annual cost of a transfer fee spread over the contract length), and agent fees. Running costs like stadium upkeep or academy spending do not count.

Q: What happens if a club breaches the SCR limit?

Clubs that breach the SCR limit face EFL sanctions, which can include transfer embargoes, fines, or points deductions. The exact penalty depends on the scale of the breach and is determined by an independent panel.

Q: Do parachute payments help clubs under SCR?

Yes. Parachute payments count as football revenue, so clubs receiving them have a higher SCR allowance. A club on parachute payments might have an 85% limit of £90m+ rather than the £30-40m of a typical Championship club. But the allowance drops sharply once payments end.

Since 2026/27, Premier League and Championship clubs are capped at 85% of adjusted football revenue on squad costs — replacing the old PSR loss-based system. Below: every club's position under the new rules.

The 2026 summer transfer window has closed. See how much SCR headroom every Premier League and Championship club actually had going in, and how much they spent — spending power vs actual spend →

Premier League: every club's SCR position

The Premier League's version has no owner top-up. Instead every club starts with a 30% allowance above the 85% Green Threshold — a 115% Red Threshold — that shrinks after a breach. On our estimates 4 of 20 clubs sit above 85% (Coventry, Hull City, Bournemouth, Fulham), and 6 of the 9 clubs in Europe are above UEFA's stricter 70% line. Full Premier League table →

Arsenal 57.5% Liverpool 61.4% Tottenham Hotspur 59.3% Manchester United 67.8% Chelsea 70% Manchester City 77.4% Leeds United 65% Newcastle United 70.2% Everton 69% Brighton & Hove Albion 73.7% Sunderland 73% Crystal Palace 75.2% Nottingham Forest 76.9% Ipswich Town 72.5% Brentford 76% Aston Villa 82.4% Coventry City 86.6% Hull City 91.5% AFC Bournemouth 88% Fulham 89.3%

Championship — PSR vs SCR: winners and losers by club

How each Championship club's compliance position changes when you switch from the old loss-based PSR to the new revenue-based SCR. Positive = under the limit; negative = over it. Click any club for the full breakdown. What is PSR and how does it differ from SCR? →

Club ↕	PSR headroom ↕	SCR headroom ↕	Change ↕
Birmingham City	−£27.4m	−£8.6m	▲ £18.8m
Blackburn Rovers	+£11m	−£8.1m	▼ £19.1m
Bolton Wanderers	—	+£313k	—
Bristol City	−£15m	−£1.6m	▲ £13.4m
Burnley P	+£40.2m	−£21.4m	▼ £61.6m
Cardiff City	−£10.7m	−£17.1m	▼ £6.4m
Charlton Athletic	—	−£2.6m	—
Derby County	+£17m	−£4.4m	▼ £21.4m
Lincoln City	+£6.5m	−£320k	▼ £6.8m
Middlesbrough	+£8.8m	−£8.8m	▼ £17.6m
Millwall	+£7.6m	−£13.9m	▼ £21.5m
Norwich City	−£25.8m	−£14.7m	▲ £11.1m
Portsmouth	+£9.9m	+£3.5m	▼ £6.5m
Preston North End	−£7.4m	−£9m	▼ £1.6m
Queens Park Rangers	−£15.1m	−£3.7m	▲ £11.4m
Sheffield United	−£8.5m	+£17.7m	▲ £26.2m
Southampton P	−£40.6m	+£18.8m	▲ £59.4m
Stoke City	−£27.4m	−£3.1m	▲ £24.3m
Swansea City	−£15.7m	−£10.1m	▲ £5.5m
Watford	+£59.7m	−£6m	▼ £65.7m
West Bromwich Albion	−£4.2m	−£11.3m	▼ £7.1m
West Ham United P	+£40.8m	+£17.8m	▼ £23m
Wolverhampton Wanderers P	−£22.1m	−£15.8m	▲ £6.3m
Wrexham	—	+£8.4m	—

PSR figures are estimated adjusted losses vs the applicable 3-year limit (£39m base; higher for clubs with recent PL seasons). SCR headroom is squad cost vs the 85% revenue limit only. Click any column header to sort.

What the Change column means: it shows the shift in compliance position, not spending power. Large swings usually reflect Premier League history inflating the old PSR limit — not a real change in what clubs can spend. To see who can actually spend more, look at the SCR headroom column. What is PSR and how does it differ from SCR? →

What changed: PSR vs SCR

Old PSR system	New SCR system
Loss-based limits measured over three years	Revenue-based limit on squad spending
Punishes overspending after the fact	Monitored in real time, during the season
Open to distortion through creative accounting	Tied directly to football income
Outcome (a points deduction) often arrives late	Clubs see their position early and clearly

One nuance worth knowing: 85% is the Green Threshold, not a hard wall. In the Championship, clubs can lean on an owner equity top-up — up to £34.3m across three years, and no more than £16m in a single season — to invest a little ahead of revenue. See the full SCR compliance calendar for when each season's checks fall, and the SCR glossary for every term used on this page.

League One clubs: SCMP wage limits

League One clubs follow the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) — a wage-to-revenue cap — rather than SCR. See the full League One SCMP table →

Compare two clubs

Head-to-head spending power - in the Championship the parachute-payment gap is where it gets interesting; in the Premier League it's player-sale profit.

Wolves vs Norwich: Premier League money vs Championship regular Burnley vs Sheffield United: parachute club vs survivor West Brom vs Birmingham: the West Midlands SCR derby Arsenal vs Chelsea: London's two biggest wage bills under SCR Man City vs Liverpool: title rivals, very different SCR headroom Aston Villa vs Newcastle: the two clubs UEFA's rule bites hardest Bournemouth vs Brighton: why player sales decide the ratio Fulham vs Brentford: the west London SCR derby Leeds vs Sunderland: two promoted clubs on projected PL revenue Ipswich vs Hull: yo-yo club vs first-timer West Ham vs Millwall: parachute money meets the Championship's best PSR record Lincoln vs Bolton: two promoted clubs on League One revenue Leicester vs Sheffield Wednesday: two fallen giants in League One Sheffield Wednesday vs Oxford: two relegated clubs on the 65% first-season threshold MK Dons vs AFC Wimbledon: the rivalry, on SCMP wage bills Peterborough vs Cambridge: the Cambridgeshire derby under SCMP Huddersfield vs Bradford: West Yorkshire wage bills vs turnover Wigan vs Stockport: north-west rivals under the 50% cap Reading vs Wycombe: Berkshire and Bucks neighbours under SCMP Wolves vs Bolton: relegated parachute club vs promoted League One budget Southampton vs Cardiff: parachute money vs promoted-club revenue Man Utd vs Spurs: two big wage bills, only one with a European place Forest vs Everton: the two clubs PSR points deductions hit hardest Villa vs Chelsea: the two clubs fined by UEFA in 2026

Frequently asked questions

How does Premier League SCR differ from the Championship's?

Both cap squad cost at 85% of adjusted revenue. The Championship adds an owner equity top-up (£16m/season, £34.3m over three years). The Premier League has none — every club instead starts with a 30% allowance above 85%, a 115% Red Threshold, which is cut by the size of any breach and rebuilds at 10 points a season. Clubs in Europe are also bound by UEFA's separate 70% rule. Premier League SCR in full →

What counts as squad cost under SCR?

Player wages, transfer fee amortisation (the annual cost of a fee spread over the contract length), and agent fees. Running costs like stadium upkeep or academy spending do not count toward the SCR limit.

What is the owner equity top-up?

Championship clubs can invest owner equity on top of the 85% limit — up to £16m in a single season and no more than £34.3m across any rolling three-year window. This lets clubs spend slightly ahead of revenue if owners inject fresh capital, but it's a finite buffer.

What happens if a club breaches the SCR limit?

Clubs that breach face EFL sanctions, which can include transfer embargoes, fines, or points deductions. The penalty is determined by an independent panel based on the scale and persistence of the breach.

Do parachute payments help clubs under SCR?

Yes — significantly. Parachute payments count as football revenue, giving recently relegated clubs a much larger 85% allowance than their Championship peers. A parachuted club might have a limit of £90m+ versus £30–40m for a typical side. But the advantage evaporates once payments end, usually after two or three seasons.

How these numbers work. Revenue figures are drawn from clubs' most recent published accounts (mostly 2024/25) and public reporting. SCR is calculated on adjusted football revenue — headline turnover plus profit on player sales — so every figure here is illustrative rather than audit-grade. See the methodology. Squad-cost estimates are marked estimated where not separately verified. Last reviewed 2026-09-03.