| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship 07:08 - Sep 2 with 2897 views | numptydumpty |
MADNESS - Basically it is not Fair.
Here is a summary of the relative spend divide between the premier league and the championship this summer transfer window 2026.
The 2026 summer transfer window showcased an unprecedented financial chasm between England's first and second tiers. While the top flight shattered previous expenditure records, second-tier clubs operated in a completely different financial universe.
Premier League Spending (Summer 2026)
Total Accumulated Spend: The 20 Premier League clubs spent a staggering, record-breaking £3.198 billion, with some deadline-day reports placing the final gross expenditure as high as £3.46 billion.
Highest Spenders:
Manchester City: Led the league with an enormous £458 million spend, bolstered by the British-record £125 million capture of Enzo Fernandez and the £116 million signing of Elliot Anderson.
Chelsea: Continued their aggressive market strategy, spending £349 million, including a club-record £117 million on Morgan Rogers.
Tottenham Hotspur: Committed £303 million, headlined by massive nine-figure deals for Sandro Tonali and Matheus Fernandes.
Championship Spending (Summer 2026)
Total Accumulated Spend: The 24 Championship clubs spent a combined total of £353 million). Average £14.7 million
Highest Spenders:
1Middlesbrough £42.0m
2Stoke City £39.6m
3West Ham United £39.05m
4Swansea City £22.5m
5Birmingham City £15.3m
For standard Championship sides operating without the luxury of Premier League parachute payments—such as QPR, who operated with a much tighter financial footprint and a roughly £31 million turnover—competing with the division's top spenders requires immense budgetary discipline rather than heavy transfer fees.
We spent £650k. But have to say we have got in players that seem to be unbelievably good value for the cost. Great work considering the systems we have to adhere to, compared to others.
A pretty heroic transfer window for us though, given what the rules above are. Fantastic job done by our team.
but the Systsm is beyond UNFAIR [Post edited 2 Sep 16:14]
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 07:15 - Sep 2 with 2868 views | numptydumpty |
And why clubs relegated from Premier league are massively advantaged fot years to come against Championship Clubs
1.The injection of Premier League cash via parachute payments.
2. The way Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR) calculate allowable losses over a three-year rolling period.
Together, these create a dual advantage that severely limits the spending power of standard Championship clubs.
1. The Revenue Gulf: Parachute Payments
Standard Championship clubs without parachute payments operate on extremely tight margins. Their central distribution from the EFL (TV rights and solidarity payments) typically amounts to around £8–£10 million per season.
In contrast, relegated clubs receive a percentage of the Premier League's broadcasting revenue designed to soften the blow of relegation. This is paid out over three years (or two, if the club was only in the top flight for a single season):
Year 1: 55% of the equal share (roughly £40m–£50m).
Year 2: 45% (roughly £35m–£40m).
Year 3: 20% (roughly £15m).
This guarantees relegated clubs a baseline revenue that dwarfs the total turnover of most established Championship sides, allowing them to pay wages that standard clubs simply cannot afford without risking financial ruin
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2. The Loophole: PSR Loss Allowances
While parachute payments provide the cash to spend, the structure of PSR provides the regulatory permission to lose it.
Under EFL rules, a club is assessed on a three-year rolling period. The maximum allowed loss depends entirely on which league the club was in during those specific seasons:
Championship Season: £13 million allowed loss.
Premier League Season: £35 million allowed loss.
Because the assessment window looks backward, a recently relegated club benefits from the higher Premier League allowances for multiple years after they drop down.
[Post edited 2 Sep 8:00]
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 07:46 - Sep 2 with 2710 views | numptydumpty |
The key therefore is to get in the premier, even one season you will constantly benefit.
But if you manage two or more, you are almost guaranteed to be yo yo club at worst ie Burnley, Southampton, Ipswich or a regular premier league club at best ie Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford
This is why its so difficult for clubs such as ours to compete but why the model we are following has been the only chance we could create a more competitive squad that has a slim but better chance of sneaking into the prem via the playoffs . We have done very good business, the last couple of years, with the framework we are up against
The football regulators need to get a grip but the game is too far gone but legally the rules are obscene !!! [Post edited 2 Sep 8:04]
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 07:47 - Sep 2 with 2707 views | TomS |
It's almost as if FFP was deliberately designed to maintain the status quo among the elite clubs.  |  | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 07:55 - Sep 2 with 2645 views | stevec |
It is all grossly unfair but perhaps it’s meant to be for a reason.
Just scanned down the Premier League, every single one of these clubs have shown purpose in building or renovating stadiums, most of the newcomers going about this process before they reached the Premier League. Stadiums that essentially respect their fan base.
However unfair the set up, perhaps it merely shines a light on how a club perceives its support base.
If you don’t invest in your supporters you’re less likely to reap the rewards. |  | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 08:44 - Sep 2 with 2425 views | slmrstid |
Its all monopoly money, at the end of the day.
The inequality between top leagues in Europe is the more staggering now - Ipswich outspending Barcelona for instance  |  | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 09:21 - Sep 2 with 2257 views | CroydonCaptJack |
Seems to be something wrong with those championship figures as well so the difference may be even bigger.
If 24 clubs spent a combined £335m then the average is nearly £14m each yet you say Swansea were the highest and their spend was less than that. We know our spending was only a couple of million as well so I suspect the £335m figure should be lower. |  |
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 09:40 - Sep 2 with 2169 views | DWQPR |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 09:21 - Sep 2 by CroydonCaptJack |
Seems to be something wrong with those championship figures as well so the difference may be even bigger.
If 24 clubs spent a combined £335m then the average is nearly £14m each yet you say Swansea were the highest and their spend was less than that. We know our spending was only a couple of million as well so I suspect the £335m figure should be lower. |
Stoke also spent well in excess of the figures quoted. The bloke that they got from Swansea and also Hirst from Ipswich combined was in excess of £17million. But the reality is that the total spend in the PL is obscene and was more than the German, French and Spanish leagues combined and yet from what I have seen so far this season the standard is average. Teams abroad continually produce young talent which the top English teams spend obscene amounts on to the detriment of the talent in their own youth systems. Effectively the PL is funding French, Portuguese and Spanish football, countries where the TV revenue is much smaller but they don’t need to worry too much as they probably end up getting most of the Sky money anyway through their sales to England. |  |
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:14 - Sep 2 with 2039 views | daveB |
it all looks like money laundering, they all move money around themselves and end up in the main with the same sort of squad they started with. |  | | |
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:21 - Sep 2 with 2012 views | EuroRanger |
Usually like what you have to say, Numpty, but for everyone: please stop posting unchecked AI slop into the forum. It's misinformation.
We know that West Ham spent more than Swansea's supposed total outlay on ONE player: https://talksport.com/football
If you look at the numbers cited (as has been noted), the total outlay divided by 24 clubs gives you a number higher than the supposed Max spend of Swansea.
LLM's do not 'know' anything. They are effectively very sophisticated autocorrect machines, that aim to produce a plausible output. They simply assign words based on statistical probability. As such, they are quite effective at some tasks (coding, generating large bodies of text quickly, simulating human interaction) but are very poor at other things (providing truthful information).
For everyone, not just Numpty: please stop using them to post here. We don't need slop here wasting everyone's time. Honestly I'd love it if Northern would ban them from the forum entirely! | | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:37 - Sep 2 with 1936 views | themodfather |
there will never be a level playing field in football again, the big teams have sewn it up and do not want challengers .
yet a while back a vote took place about parachute money and newly promoted clubs voted it down ?
chelsea man city and spurs have spent approx 400m+ already each, yep all PSR and FFP
the outrage and furore cos we spent 55m on 11 players !! moneybags QPR lol.
it will get worse as agents run the game and lawyers getting their foot in the door now. | | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 11:46 - Sep 2 with 1711 views | R_from_afar |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:21 - Sep 2 by EuroRanger |
Usually like what you have to say, Numpty, but for everyone: please stop posting unchecked AI slop into the forum. It's misinformation.
We know that West Ham spent more than Swansea's supposed total outlay on ONE player: https://talksport.com/football
If you look at the numbers cited (as has been noted), the total outlay divided by 24 clubs gives you a number higher than the supposed Max spend of Swansea.
LLM's do not 'know' anything. They are effectively very sophisticated autocorrect machines, that aim to produce a plausible output. They simply assign words based on statistical probability. As such, they are quite effective at some tasks (coding, generating large bodies of text quickly, simulating human interaction) but are very poor at other things (providing truthful information).
For everyone, not just Numpty: please stop using them to post here. We don't need slop here wasting everyone's time. Honestly I'd love it if Northern would ban them from the forum entirely! |
Good post!
I couldn't remember the name of the Serie A team which hovered above the relegation zone all season, until the very last set of fixtures, when results sent it down.
I reluctantly used AI to try to find out.
I still don't know which team it was because when I checked the answer AI very speedily came up with, it was wrong  .
I'll keep doing my own research.
PS: AI searches use 5x the energy of a standard Web search. That's worrying... |  |
| "Things had started becoming increasingly desperate at Loftus Road but QPR have been handed a massive lifeline and the place has absolutely erupted. it's carnage. It's bedlam. It's 1-1." |
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:04 - Sep 2 with 1672 views | slmrstid |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:14 - Sep 2 by daveB |
it all looks like money laundering, they all move money around themselves and end up in the main with the same sort of squad they started with. |
The back and forth transfers between Villa and Chelsea are certainly suspicious.
It used to be done in Serie A years ago, the two Milan teams were notorious for transferring squad players between themselves for inflated values as those values helped them meet the financial requirements to keep their sporting licence active. They weren't the only two, quite a lot of clubs all got done for it in the end.
(That's a bit of a mash of a paragraph from something I read in a book on Italian football many, many years ago!) | | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:48 - Sep 2 with 1554 views | daveB |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:04 - Sep 2 by slmrstid |
The back and forth transfers between Villa and Chelsea are certainly suspicious.
It used to be done in Serie A years ago, the two Milan teams were notorious for transferring squad players between themselves for inflated values as those values helped them meet the financial requirements to keep their sporting licence active. They weren't the only two, quite a lot of clubs all got done for it in the end.
(That's a bit of a mash of a paragraph from something I read in a book on Italian football many, many years ago!) |
the big headline figures are insane but when you do net spend it's been pretty standard. Spurs have spent similalr to what they usually do around 150million
I quite enjoy watching the Prem but I'm not convinced anyone has massivley improved this summer possibly other than Chelsea but they still look ropey at the back. | | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:51 - Sep 2 with 1540 views | daveB |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:37 - Sep 2 by themodfather |
there will never be a level playing field in football again, the big teams have sewn it up and do not want challengers .
yet a while back a vote took place about parachute money and newly promoted clubs voted it down ?
chelsea man city and spurs have spent approx 400m+ already each, yep all PSR and FFP
the outrage and furore cos we spent 55m on 11 players !! moneybags QPR lol.
it will get worse as agents run the game and lawyers getting their foot in the door now. |
there never was an even playing field. Even in the heyday of the 70's and 80's it was usually the sides who spent the most that won the leagues with a few exception | | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 13:09 - Sep 2 with 1480 views | KensalT |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:51 - Sep 2 by daveB |
there never was an even playing field. Even in the heyday of the 70's and 80's it was usually the sides who spent the most that won the leagues with a few exception |
There's never been a perfectly level playing field.
Up until the early eighties there were rules in place to try and keep things level.
The turning point was 1983 when the sharing of gate receipts ended. Since then every rule change has made the rich clubs richer at the expense of the rest of us.
The recent Liverpool takeover valued the club at $5 billion. I did some calculations at the time and reckon that makes Liverpool worth more than twice the combined value of all 72 EFL clubs.
There's now a small elite at the top who are playing a completely different game from the rest of us. And they're still not happy and are looking at more ways to get a bigger slice of the pie.
https://www.theguardian.com/sp
"It's hardly news, but after 30 years in which little changed in terms of competitive balance, the past 30 years have seen the top sides pull away from the rest at an increasing rate. The significance of that in the present climate is to highlight the likely impact if collective negotiation of television rights were to be done away with. Yes, it may be unsavoury to see billionaire owners engaging in what Arsène Wenger terms financial doping, but to some extent that has always gone on; if that level of investment is unsustainable it fades away again. The real issue is building an imbalance into the structure, and it is the checks against that imbalance that have been stripped away over the past three decades." |  | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 13:16 - Sep 2 with 1449 views | CLAREMAN1995 |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 12:48 - Sep 2 by daveB |
the big headline figures are insane but when you do net spend it's been pretty standard. Spurs have spent similalr to what they usually do around 150million
I quite enjoy watching the Prem but I'm not convinced anyone has massivley improved this summer possibly other than Chelsea but they still look ropey at the back. |
I have the PL package and its brilliantly packaged over here in the US with pre and post games reports plus the outstanding goal zone hour after the weekend fixtures are done .
Obviously I enjoy it and this year the PL is shaping up to be the most competitive in years.
Chelsea or Chelscum as LFW insist on calling them have one of the best attacking teams plus Martinez plus a superb manager so I think they will contend .
City with Fernandez just arriving could win it all after shocking spending but Arsenal have the dept to defend . Saw a video last night saying they did not sign enough players after all they spent just madness .
Hard to explain the financial struggles we have at QPR to anyone with those stupid money figures in the PL everybody I talk to seems to believe everybody is spending like that |  | | |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 13:24 - Sep 2 with 1424 views | numptydumpty |
| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 10:21 - Sep 2 by EuroRanger |
Usually like what you have to say, Numpty, but for everyone: please stop posting unchecked AI slop into the forum. It's misinformation.
We know that West Ham spent more than Swansea's supposed total outlay on ONE player: https://talksport.com/football
If you look at the numbers cited (as has been noted), the total outlay divided by 24 clubs gives you a number higher than the supposed Max spend of Swansea.
LLM's do not 'know' anything. They are effectively very sophisticated autocorrect machines, that aim to produce a plausible output. They simply assign words based on statistical probability. As such, they are quite effective at some tasks (coding, generating large bodies of text quickly, simulating human interaction) but are very poor at other things (providing truthful information).
For everyone, not just Numpty: please stop using them to post here. We don't need slop here wasting everyone's time. Honestly I'd love it if Northern would ban them from the forum entirely! |
My post was 100% accurate regards the rules and the discrepancies are huge in terms of spend. The figures not 100% accurate as per each club but show the marked differences as the window only finished yesterday, but not far off, simply because the window had not closed when i accumulated my research etc. And most of it was sourced by me from official websites. i thought highlighting the rules and the "near as damn it" figures helped to show the ridiculous chasm between the divisons. i posted because i thought it would be of interest.
I did also edit the posts with my own ideas as to what i felt about the rules, how they work in progress and how they massively favour the bigger clubs and the reasons why parachute payments with the ACTUAL figures paid, massively favour relegated teams for many years. It shows the stark reality of the rules and the rules i got off the internet also, but if thsre is consensus that i should not post this - then so be it. I wont post.
Put it up as clearly the system is so broken its ruined football. I thought it was of interest, simply because it truly should not be allowed to carry on with this ridiculous financial constraints or not as the case may be.
And nearly all that i have posted here is referenced from actual official websites, it was though not done at the exact timing of the closing of the window.
i do give great thought to my posts and only do so with good intentions - thought the topic was intetesting myself and others would too.
Seems i dont read the room well then.
Its my own thoughts and edits etc and my own thinking not AI. But if you find something is inaccurate, well how many posts on here are totally 100 % correct.
Every single poster on here, from yourself to myself to Clive and anyone else on here regularly has posted nonsense on here at times.
Its a football fans forum - I thought that was the idea !!!!
[Post edited 2 Sep 16:27]
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| FFP in Premier League - FFP in Chsmpionship on 18:51 - Sep 3 with 893 views | SimonD |
Someone has pointed me in the direction of this.
This analysis is of the old PSR rules which have been consigned to the scrap heap and replaced by the new Squad Cost Rules from this season.
As to the fairness, I guess it depends on the criteria it is being judged by. | | | |
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