Now in its 20th year, the Annual Survey of Football Finance Directors 2025 remains one of the most trusted benchmarks of financial performance across English football. This year’s edition, Defying Gravity: The Ever-Expanding Football Universe, captures a period of rising revenues, escalating wage pressures, widening financial disparity, and the intensifying cost of competition.
Drawing on insights from Finance Directors across the Premier League, Championship, League one, League Two and the women’s game, the report explores:
- Record-breaking EPL revenues and player transfer spend, with surging interest in women’s football
- Football club valuations and multiples continuing to rise
- The widening financial disparity in the game (both between the leagues and even within the leagues)
- The true cost of competition, including wage inflation and transfer pressures, and the surprising lack of correlation between player spend and on-field results
- Sustained trading losses driving increased dependency on owners, lenders and external finance
- The growing influence of Multi-Club Ownership
- Regulatory change, including the introduction of the Independent Football Regulator and new domestic spending controls
- Evolving strategic priorities for investment across men’s and women’s teams
Download the report to explore the financial health of clubs, sector-wide risks, and the trends shaping the game in 2025 and beyond.