Unpacking the EFL’s financial rule changes for 2025/26 and how they impact clubs

The English Football League’s recent changes to Profit & Sustainability^[1] (P&S) rules and the Salary Cost Management Protocol^[2] (SCMP) rules will impact all EFL clubs in the 2025/26 season.

The P&S rules – the particular set of Financial Fair Play rules that apply to Championship clubs - were first introduced for the 2016/17 season, aiming to “deliver a consistent approach to Financial Fair Play for those clubs that move between the Premier League and Championship through promotion and relegation”.^[3]  While the P&S rules are based on earnings^[4] over a three-season rolling period (the P&S Calculation),^[5] clubs in League One and League Two have to abide by the SCMP rules, based on player-related expenditure (as a proportion of a club’s turnover).

The changes to both sets of rules have come about for a variety of reasons, but the focus on the timing of P&S submissions, the ability to apply sanctions imposed by the Premier League and equity injections into clubs has sparked media discussion around the implications for certain clubs in particular.  Ultimately, however, all EFL clubs will be impacted, and it is important to examine what the changes mean across the board.

This article will discuss some of the main changes for the 2025/26 season, including the filing of calculations and accounts, sanctions and calculation of adjusted earnings before tax under P&S rules, as well as SCMP changes specific to League One and Two. It will then summarise the key takeaways for EFL clubs for the current season that arise out of these rule changes.

Article outline

• P&S Rule Changes
  • Filing of calculations and accounts
  • Sanctions
  • Calculation of Adjusted Earnings Before Tax
• Changes Specific to League One and Two
  • The 2024/25 Rules
  • Changes in 2025/26
• Takeaways