The Championship’s collective wage bill grew to a record £903m in 2024-25, according to Deloitte’s latest Annual Review of Football Finance. Clubs are paying players enormous sums in their pursuit of Premier League football. With the playoffs expanding this season, the number of owners willing to risk even more money in the hope of securing promotion is only likely to increase.
In isolation, the figure of £903m does not signify much. Compared to the Premier League’s £4.4bn salary outlay, it almost looks small. But England’s top division can afford that gargantuan commitment to wages whereas the second tier cannot.
The 24 clubs in the Championship earned £942m, meaning salaries consumed 96% of revenue. If there was any surprise in their collective net debt being £1.4bn at the end of 2024-25, it was only that it had reduced from the £1.5bn it was a year earlier. While qualifying for European competitions is not on the immediate agenda for clubs at that level, Uefa’s financial sustainability regulations restrict spending on wages, transfers and agent fees to 70% of club revenues.
Luton and Sheffield United spent about 59% of their income on salaries in 2024-25, with the parachute payments they received for being relegated from the Premier League the previous season helping them keep a grip on their finances. But only four other clubs were below 80%, with 13 – more than half the division – spending more on wages than they earned. Cardiff spent £39m on salaries against £26m income, giving them the worst wages to revenue percentage in the division (150%).
The reward for their ambition was to finish bottom of the table. The reason for such risk-taking is obvious. Deloitte estimates that the newly promoted Coventry and Hull will see their revenue rise by at least £210m over the next three seasons, with the windfall potentially reaching £365m if they can retain their Premier League status into 2027-28.
Ipswich’s figures are lower thanks to receiving parachute payments last season, but they are still thought to be around £170m and £325m respectively. These sums are helping to form a strata of clubs that regularly flit between the top two tiers of English football. Burnley have either enjoyed promotion from the Championship or suffered Premier League relegation for five consecutive seasons.
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