{"id":275514,"date":"2025-11-21T14:06:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T14:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275514\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T14:06:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T14:06:09","slug":"premier-league-clubs-reject-controversial-anchoring-but-agree-new-financial-rules-premier-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/275514\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier League clubs reject controversial \u2018anchoring\u2019 but agree new financial rules | Premier League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Premier League clubs have voted overwhelmingly against the introduction of controversial anchoring plans<\/a> but agreed a squad cost ratio (SCR) system, as the top flight moved to a new era of financial regulation.<\/p>\n

Top-to-bottom anchoring (TBA) would have tied the spending of the league\u2019s clubs to a multiple of the revenue earned by the division\u2019s bottom-placed side the previous season in central payments passed on by the league. The plan has long been opposed by the top flight\u2019s two Manchester clubs and a vote in London on Friday brought 12 votes against the measure and seven for, with Burnley abstaining.<\/p>\n

The vote on SCRs proved less divisive, with the necessary majority of 14 clubs voting in favour and six against. The six clubs who voted against are understood to be Bournemouth, Brighton, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Leeds.<\/p>\n

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TBA had come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, with the Professional Footballers\u2019 Association and player agencies threatening the possibility of legal action should the rules be introduced. This may have been a factor in the decisive vote against the measures, though clubs were said to have growing concerns of their own about an absolute limit being imposed on spending.<\/p>\n

The introduction of SCR means the end of profitability and sustainability rules (and that from next season clubs will be limited to spending no more than 85% of their football revenue and net profit\/loss on player sales on on-pitch spending, which includes player transfer fees and wages. If clubs exceed the 85% level, known as the \u201cgreen threshold\u201d, they will be liable to a fine. Exceeding a \u201cred threshold\u201d of 115% of spending will result in a sporting sanction, most likely the deduction of points.<\/p>\n

This system will exist alongside a similar set of constraints imposed by Uefa on clubs in European competition, rules which this season apply to nine of the league\u2019s 20 clubs.<\/p>\n

A third measure, referred to as sustainability and systematic resilience (SSR), was approved unanimously. It will be comprised of three tests designed to assess a club\u2019s sustainability over the short, medium and long term. Teams will be expected to show they have enough cash to cover the current season\u2019s costs and \u201cunforeseen fluctuations\u201d, while a liquidity test will also ensure they can handle \u201ca variety of financial shocks inherent to the industry\u201d, one of which is relegation. A third test looks at a club\u2019s level of debt with an eye to the long term and potential systemic shifts in the industry, such as a fall in media rights revenues.<\/p>\n

The Premier League<\/a> said it had developed the new financial system through \u201cextensive consultation with clubs and a wide range of stakeholders\u201d and that it was devised to work \u201ceffectively in parallel with Uefa\u2019s rules and is consistent with the objectives of the Independent Football Regulator\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Premier League also announced it would push back the start of next season by one week to give players more time to recuperate after the World Cup. The opening match round will begin on the weekend of Saturday 22 August 2026, 33 days after the World Cup final, and the final round will be on Sunday 30 May 2027. There will be a return to a more traditional Boxing Day fixture list, after only one game was scheduled for this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Premier League clubs have voted overwhelmingly against the introduction of controversial anchoring plans but agreed a squad cost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-275514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}