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For the 2026/27 season, Premier League clubs are assessed under Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) and Sustainability and Systemic Resilience (SSR), which replaced the former Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). SCR limits defined squad costs against football-related income; SSR tests financial resilience. A club can face a sporting sanction if it breaches SCR’s red threshold, while a levy may apply to certain breaches above its 85% green threshold in seasons from 2027/28. Past PSR cases show that points deductions have also been imposed—and altered on appeal—but they are not a fixed tariff for future cases.
How do Premier League financial rules work in 2026/27?
The season determines which rules apply. PSR applied through 2025/26. SCR and SSR took effect at the start of 2026/27, so they govern current-season compliance. The Premier League says it retains powers to begin or continue enforcement for PSR breaches relating to periods ending in 2025/26 or earlier. That means an old PSR case can still be decided under the legacy rules even though PSR is no longer the current-season framework. (Premier League, 2026.)
The two current tests address different risks: SCR focuses on the cost of a club’s squad relative to football-related financial inputs, while SSR examines whether the club has adequate financial resilience. Neither should be confused with UEFA’s separate rules for clubs competing in European competitions.
| Framework | What it measures | Time frame | How enforcement works |
|---|---|---|---|
| PSR, through 2025/26 | Club-wide adjusted earnings over a rolling three-year period | Three accounting years | Case-specific decisions; historical cases have included points deductions and appeals |
| SCR, from 2026/27 | Defined on-pitch squad costs compared with football-related revenue and net profit or loss from player sales | Season-based monitoring and tests | Green and red thresholds, with a levy mechanism and sporting sanctions under specified conditions |
| SSR, from 2026/27 | Working Capital, Liquidity, and Positive Equity tests | Annual assessment, with possible further assessment after a Call-In Event | Assesses financial resilience separately from SCR |
What does Squad Cost Ratio measure?
The Premier League’s July 2026 explainer describes SCR as a limit on clubs’ “on-pitch spending” relative to football-related revenue and net profit or loss from player sales. In practical terms, it is a squad-cost control, not a test of a club’s overall profitability. The League’s summary sets an 85% green threshold and says clubs can have up to 30% additional multi-year allowance above it. (Premier League, 2026.)
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Those figures should not be read as a simple rule that every club spending more than 85% is automatically punished, or that the red threshold is always a fixed 115%. The allowance is subject to the system’s rules and can be reduced through a feedback process when a club exceeds 85% in the accounts-confirmation process. The red threshold is the level at which the League’s summary says a sporting sanction follows when the club is above it at the March test.
When does the League check SCR?
SCR runs by season. The Premier League says it monitors clubs in October and assesses them on 1 March, after the winter transfer window. Its summary describes further checks for clubs above 85% at the March test: confirmation against accounts in June and a true-up in October. The League uses estimated football-revenue inputs agreed before the season, so the March assessment is not simply a final accounts calculation.
If a club is above 85% but below its red threshold, the League says it is subject to later accounts confirmation and may owe a levy under the new system. The League’s summary states that levies apply only to breaches in 2027/28 onwards; they do not apply to 2026/27 breaches. A club above the red threshold at the March test faces the sporting-sanction trigger described in that summary.
How does SCR compare with UEFA’s limit?
The Premier League’s explainer summarizes UEFA’s SCR limit as 70% for clubs competing in Europe, compared with the League’s 85% green threshold for domestic purposes. UEFA’s test is separate, so a club involved in European competition must account for the relevant UEFA rules as well as the Premier League framework. (Premier League, 2026.)
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What is SSR, and what does it test?
Sustainability and Systemic Resilience is a separate framework from SCR. It assesses short-, medium-, and long-term financial health using three tests: Working Capital, Liquidity, and Positive Equity. The Premier League says clubs are assessed on 7 July each year and may be assessed again after a Call-In Event. Its published Positive Equity Ratio thresholds are:
| Season | Positive Equity Ratio threshold |
|---|---|
| 2026/27 | 90% |
| 2027/28 | 85% |
| 2028/29 and later | 80% |
These thresholds and assessment dates are those stated in the Premier League’s 2026 SSR summary. The summary identifies the three tests but does not, by itself, establish every calculation detail; the current Premier League Handbook is the relevant source for the operative definitions and formulas.
How did the former PSR rules work?
PSR measured club-wide profitability rather than a squad-cost percentage. The Premier League describes an ordinary rolling three-year calculation of adjusted earnings before tax. It starts with profit or loss after depreciation and interest, before tax, and then applies add-backs allowed by the rules.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteExamples of general football-interest costs identified by the League include infrastructure, community work, women’s football, youth development, and depreciation of tangible fixed assets. Exceptional COVID-19 costs were also permitted as add-backs for the 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22 years. These were rule-governed adjustments, not a general option for clubs to exclude any spending they considered beneficial. (Premier League, PSR explainer.)
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What penalties have Premier League clubs faced?
Under the legacy PSR regime, published Everton decisions demonstrate that points deductions have been imposed and that appeals can change the outcome. In a case concerning the period ending in 2021/22, an independent Commission initially imposed a 10-point deduction. An independent Appeal Board reduced it to an immediate six-point deduction. In a separate case concerning the period ending in 2022/23, an independent Commission imposed an immediate two-point deduction for an admitted breach. (Premier League, 2024.)
These are separate PSR cases, not a standard penalty schedule for every breach. The Premier League’s SCR summary distinguishes a possible levy for certain cases above the green threshold from a sporting sanction when the red threshold is exceeded. The result in any individual matter depends on the rules in force, the process followed, and the determination in that case. Historical PSR points deductions should therefore not be presented as an automatic penalty under SCR or SSR.
Where should clubs and readers check the exact rules?
The Premier League’s public explainers are useful for an overview, but they are summaries. For legally precise definitions, formulas, procedural deadlines, and available sanctions, consult the current Premier League Handbook and its appendices. For an older PSR matter, use the rules applicable to the relevant period and the written decisions for that case; the current SCR and SSR framework does not retrospectively replace the rules governing legacy proceedings.
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