Owner top-up (equity allowance)
The owner top-up is the Championship's equity allowance under SCR: an owner may fund squad cost above the 85% limit by up to £16m in a season, and no more than £34.3m across any rolling three-year window.
Also called
owner equity top-up
equity allowance
owner investment
The Championship has no buffer band above the Green Threshold. Instead, a club that wants to spend beyond 85% of adjusted football revenue must have its owner put in fresh equity to cover the difference.
The caps are £16m in any single season and £34.3m across a rolling three-year window, so a club cannot lean on it indefinitely. It is a finite buffer, not a permanent uplift.
The money has to be real equity, filed as such, before it counts — the EFL's pre-season submission on 30 April requires the share allotment to be registered first.
This is the Championship's counterpart to the Premier League's 30% allowance, and the reason a Championship club slightly over 85% is shown as amber on this site rather than in breach.
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Definitions summarise published EFL and Premier League regulations in plain English; they are
not legal advice and not a substitute for the rulebooks themselves.
Last reviewed 2026-09-10.
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