League One SCMP
How much can Reading spend?
Under the EFL's Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) rules, Reading have a
guaranteed spending limit of £4.9m
— 50% of estimated football revenue of £9.8m.
Against their estimated squad cost that is £2.7m short.
Reading: the SCR breakdown
- Estimated revenue (football) reported £9.8m
- 50% SCR limit £4.9m
- Estimated squad cost estimated £7.6m
- Headroom vs 50% limit −£2.7m
Restricted
- squad cost is 77.1% of revenue
What this means
On these estimates, Reading are spending well above what SCMP allows. Closing that gap usually means selling players or growing revenue before they can strengthen further.
League One clubs are governed by SCMP, a wage-to-turnover cap, not SCR. The figures above run the club through the same calculator at the 50% SCMP threshold for comparability; the League One page shows the club's SCMP ratio and threshold directly.
Note on this club's figures. Revenue is the audited group turnover of The Reading Football Club Limited (Companies House 00053703) for the year ended 30 June 2025, a League One season: £9,805,651 (2023/24 restated: £10,001,548), read from the iXBRL accounts filed 30 March 2026 and confirmed by Wokingham Today's Kieran Maguire-sourced report. Same accounts: total staff costs £12,407,926 (wages and salaries £11,031,245 + social security £1,250,202 + pensions £126,479) across 284 employees including 50 players, 83 coaching/football staff, 43 admin and 93 matchday staff; profit on disposal of player registrations £9,508,267; operating loss £3,761,188; loss before tax c.£3.88m. The accounts do not split player wages from other staff, and the club's own SCMP-basis player wage figure is not published. The 2026/27 wage bill is therefore Capology's estimate of £145,450 per week (£7,563,400 a year, 145,450 x 52) as quoted by Football League World on 15 March 2026; Capology's own pages were blocked by Cloudflare so the figure was taken from FLW's citation of it, and it is a 2025/26-season estimate carried forward into 2026/27, hence estimated. Ratio = 7,563,400 / 9,805,651 = 0.77 against the 0.50 cap; if Capology overstates the player wage bill the true ratio is lower, and SCMP relevant turnover may differ from statutory turnover, but any plausible figure sits well above 50%, which is why the status is breach risk. Mitigants: the club was bought from Dai Yongge by Rob Couhig and Todd Trosclair's Redwood Holdings 1 Ltd (ultimate parent Dogwood Football LLC) in May 2025 and owner equity counts at 50p per £1 under SCMP; a £105,000 director loan was advanced and repaid in the year and a new charge (MR01) was registered on 5 May 2026. 2025/26 accounts are not yet filed. Cost base is falling: average weekly wage fell to £5,918 in 2024/25 from £7,544, with total staff costs still 127% of turnover on Maguire's all-staff basis. No parachute payments, no points deduction currently in force.
Source.
Source.
Compare Reading with another club
← All League One SCMP 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 →