Championship SCR
How much can Cardiff City spend?
Cardiff City: the SCR breakdown
- Estimated revenue (football) reported £25.8m
- 85% SCR limit (no owner top-up) £21.9m
- Estimated squad cost reported £39m
- Headroom vs 85% limit −£17.1m
- + Max owner equity top-up (if used) £16m
- Max spending allowance (with top-up) £37.9m
- Headroom vs max allowance −£1.1m
What this means
On these estimates, Cardiff City are spending well above what SCR allows. Closing that gap usually means selling players or growing revenue before they can strengthen further.
Summer 2026 window vs SCR headroom
- Window spend (gross) £1.5m
- Window sales £0
- Net spend reported £1.5m
- Pre-window effective SCR headroom (85% limit plus any top-up or allowance) −£1.1m
- Against the 85% line alone −£17.1m
A net spend of £1.5m is £2.6m beyond the −£1.1m of effective headroom Cardiff had before the window opened — the 85% limit plus any owner top-up or allowance, minus estimated squad cost, the same basis as the transfer-window table.
Against the 85% line alone, with no top-up, Cardiff's pre-window headroom was −£17.1m (already over the line).
Only fee-disclosed deal was GK Nathan Trott from FC Copenhagen for £1.5m, corroborated by Wikipedia's 2026 summer transfers list. Other incomings were undisclosed fees or free/loan. All outgoings carried no disclosed sale fee, so income treated as £0/undisclosed.
Source.
Spending beyond calculated headroom is not automatically a breach: transfer fees are amortised over the contract, sales offset signings, and none of it reaches SCR squad cost until the next accounts are filed. Every club's window spend vs headroom →
Old rules vs new: PSR compared to SCR
Under the old PSR system, clubs were judged on total losses over three years, not on what they spent on the squad as a share of revenue. Here's how Cardiff's position compares under both sets of rules.
| Old PSR (loss-based) | New SCR (revenue-based) |
|---|---|
|
3-year losses: £49.7m
reported
Limit: £39m Headroom: −£10.7m 2021/22–2023/24 (Championship) |
Squad cost: £39m
85% limit: £21.9m · Max (with top-up): £37.9m Headroom: −£17.1m Based on £25.8m revenue |
Losses of £26.6m, £11.4m and £11.7m over three years (£49.7m, £10.7m over the £39m limit). No EFL enforcement action reported. Owner Vincent Tan's continued funding kept the club operating but at the cost of growing debt (£97m owed to Tan). Relegated to League One in 2024/25.
Source.
Compare Cardiff with another club
← All Championship SCR clubs ranked by SCR headroom