Nottingham Forest had just five hours of reserves, according to Fair Game survey

“It is now abundantly clear that football in England urgently needs a culture change and the regulator must be given full and comprehensive powers to deliver it. T

he current reliance on punishment has clearly failed. Overspending and financial recklessness remains commonplace.”

Niall Couper, CEO, Fair Game

A NEW study from Fair Game has revealed last year Nottingham Forest had just five hours’ worth of cash reserves. According to Starling Bank, the recommended minimum for businesses is three months.

Fair Game, a campaign group looking to improve the governance of football, studied the latest accounts of the top 92 clubs in the English pyramid.

The 2021/22 accounts revealed Forest spent £58,606,000 on wages, but had just £25,000 in cash reserves.

Only 66 of the 92 clubs filed accounts that included both data on wages and cash reserves. 

Of the 66, Plymouth Argyle were the most financially secure with 413 days’ worth of reserves, followed by Tottenham Hotspur (395), Exeter (303), West Ham United (259) and AFC Wimbledon (222). The full breakdown can be viewed here.

The most insecure after Nottingham Forest were Walsall (eight hours), Middlesbrough (52 hours) and Coventry City (54 hours).

The study comes on the day when the House of Lords is due to debate the King’s Speech which includes a Bill to introduce an Independent Regulator for English Football. The Regulator is expected to have powers to scrutinise clubs’ finances.

Niall Couper, CEO of Fair Game, added:

“It is now abundantly clear that football in England urgently needs a culture change and the regulator must be given full and comprehensive powers to deliver it.

“The current reliance on punishment has clearly failed. Overspending and financial recklessness remains commonplace.

“It is time to look again at how money is distributed. If you want culture change the quickest way to do it is to reward the clubs that do well.

“Encouraging clubs to be well-run through a fairer financial flow must be top of the regulator’s remit.”

Adam Davis, the Fair Game financial analyst behind the study, added: 

“This research highlights the perilous state the football pyramid finds itself in several years after the initial effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Whilst it is unlikely all forms of revenue would be shut off to a club at any one time it demonstrates the potential overreliance on owner funding many clubs face for day-to-day running.”

Mark Middling, Fair Game’s Chief Financial Officer, said:

“There is the added issue that there is no standardised accounting or reporting within the game.

“The available data is also not up-to-date and things can change quickly. An individual club’s financial health can easily be distorted by the timing of when sponsorship or other income streams hit their bank accounts.

“To properly protect the nation’s clubs, the regulator must have access to real-time figures.”

In July, Fair Game released its Fair Game Index which rated the nation’s top 92 clubs on 80 different touchpoints across four criteria: Financial Sustainability, Good Governance, Fan & Community Engagement, and Equality Standards. 

Fair Game’s financial experts then used a formula to reallocate the current financial flows using the scores. The full results of which can be found here.