How much can Portsmouth spend under SCR?

Portsmouth has a guaranteed SCR spending limit of £20.9m — 85% of estimated football revenue of £24.6m. If the owner uses the full equity top-up, the ceiling rises to £36.9m.

What is Portsmouth's SCR headroom?

Portsmouth's estimated SCR headroom is £3.5m — the difference between their 85% limit of £20.9m and their estimated £17.4m squad cost. With the owner top-up, the max allowance rises to £36.9m. Squad cost is 70.9% of revenue, which is High spending power.

Championship SCR

How much can Portsmouth spend?

Under the EFL's Squad Cost Ratio rules, Portsmouth have a guaranteed spending limit of £20.9m — 85% of estimated football revenue of £24.6m. Against their estimated squad cost that leaves £3.5m of headroom. If the owner injects the maximum top-up (£16m/season), the ceiling rises to £36.9m.

Portsmouth: the SCR breakdown

Estimated revenue (football) reported £24.6m
85% SCR limit (no owner top-up) £20.9m
Estimated squad cost reported £17.4m
Headroom vs 85% limit +£3.5m
+ Max owner equity top-up (if used) £16m
Max spending allowance (with top-up) £36.9m
Headroom vs max allowance +£19.5m

High spending power - squad cost is 70.9% of revenue

What this means

On these estimates, Portsmouth sit comfortably inside the 85% Green Threshold. They have room to invest in the squad without straining the rules.

Summer 2026 window vs SCR headroom

No disclosed net-spend figure for the summer 2026 window. Press-reported transfer fees for Portsmouth could not be reconciled closely enough to publish a net figure, so this site records nothing rather than guessing — a reporting gap, not a sign they spent nothing.

Window spend (gross) estimated £11m

Re-researched 2026-09-06: no confirmed sale fee found for any Portsmouth departure this summer despite a fresh search round. The £11m spend figure (chairman Michael Eisner sanctioned '£11m worth of signings' across 12 arrivals, incl. Marko Milovanovic ~£4.26m) remains single-sourced (The News Portsmouth) with no second outlet corroborating or revising it. Sales/net_spend stay null rather than guessing.
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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 Portsmouth's position compares under both sets of rules.

Old PSR (loss-based)	New SCR (revenue-based)
3-year losses: £13.1m estimated Limit: £23m Headroom: +£9.9m 2022/23–2024/25 (two League One seasons + one Championship season)	Squad cost: £17.4m 85% limit: £20.9m · Max (with top-up): £36.9m Headroom: +£3.5m Based on £24.6m revenue

Raw pre-tax results: 2022/23 loss £3.1m (League One; Swiss Ramble 2022/23 analysis), 2023/24 loss £5.6m (League One, title-winning season; Swiss Ramble/The News), 2024/25 loss £4.36m (Championship; Swiss Ramble/Pompey Trust). Sum = -£13.06m raw, before PSR add-backs (academy, community, women's team, infrastructure depreciation), so the adjusted result would be smaller. The window mixes two League One seasons, where Portsmouth were under SCMP rather than PSR, with one Championship season; the £23m limit is a blended estimate (£5m lower-loss threshold per League One season + £13m per Championship season) and should be treated as indicative only — no published PSR headroom figure exists for Portsmouth and no PSR charge or breach has ever been reported. Whatever the blend, the club is comfortably within any plausible limit. Confidence is estimated because the 3-year figure is our own composition of three separately reported annual results and the applicable limit is inferred.

Note on this club's figures. Figures are from Portsmouth Community Football Club Limited (Companies House 07940335) full accounts for the 12 months to 30 June 2025, filed 18 March 2026 — the club's first Championship season since 2011/12 (finished 16th). Revenue £24.6m (Swiss Ramble; The News reports the precise turnover as £24,568,000 — broadcasting £11.6m, matchday £8.2m, commercial £4.8m), up £11.0m (80%) from £13.6m in League One. Staff costs £17.4m (£17.42m per The News; 141 employees plus 176 casual staff), up £6.85m (65%) from £10.6m; wages/revenue 70.7%. A further £1.93m was paid in wages for seven loanees, which the Pompey Trust review notes takes the combined wages-plus-loan-cost rise to ~75%; the £17.42m squad_cost is the accounts' staff-costs line and does NOT include loan fees or the £1.6m player amortisation (up from £0.9m). Profit on player sales £0.4m; £4.6m spent on 10 signings, reversing seven seasons of net transfer income. Interest payable £0.2m. Pre-tax loss £4.36m (vs £5.6m in 2023/24) — one of the smallest losses in the division. Owners (Tornante/Eisner family) lent £8m in the year and a further £9m after year end, switching from equity to loans at ~3.6–3.7% interest; liabilities rose from £11.4m to £20.7m. Michael Eisner transferred 73.5% of his shares to his three sons during the year. Nothing changes structurally for 2026/27: third consecutive Championship season, no parachute payments, so the 2024/25 accounts are the right basis. 2025/26 accounts (year to 30 June 2026) are not yet filed. Sources read: Swiss Ramble 2024/25 and 2022/23 analyses, Pompey Supporters Trust 24-25 review, Companies House filing history; The News (portsmouth.co.uk) articles on the accounts were visible only via search snippets (403 on fetch).
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Compare Portsmouth with another club

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← All Championship SCR clubs ranked by SCR headroom

Figures are illustrative estimates from published accounts, named analyst estimates and public reporting, not official SCR submissions. SCR uses adjusted football revenue, which differs from headline turnover. Last reviewed 2026-09-03. Full rules explainer →