League One clubs weigh new limits on owner spending

League One clubs want new rules to limit how much owners can put into their clubs, and how much those clubs can lose. The Guardian reports that two models are under consideration.

League One is the third tier of English football, one division below the Championship. Its clubs already have spending rules, and they changed them in the summer. Clubs voted to cut the spending limit from 60% to 50% of turnover, which is the total money a club brings in from things like tickets, sponsorship and broadcasting.

The summer changes also dealt with owner investment. An equity injection is money an owner puts into a club as investment rather than as a loan. Under the new rules, only half of that money can be spent on squad costs. The rest must go on projects such as facilities. For the first time, managers' salaries count towards the wage limits too.

The two models on the table are a cap on losses over three years, and a luxury tax. The tax would take half of any owner investment above a set threshold and hand it to rival clubs. The loss cap is seen as the favoured option.

Why now? The Independent Football Regulator's State of the Game report found that 94% of clubs in the EFL and National League are loss-making. It also found that 32 of the 96 clubs would not survive a month without owner funding. Average losses per League One club rose to £7.5m last season, up from £5.3m the season before. Wage bills increased by 15% in the 2026-27 season.

Clubs are split. Reading and Peterborough have pushed for tighter controls. MK Dons and Wycombe oppose them. Any new spending proposal would need a two-thirds majority of clubs to pass, so the arithmetic matters as much as the argument.

There is also a legal fight. In August 2026, the Professional Footballers' Association, the players' union, launched legal proceedings against the League One spending rules. It argues that clubs did not abide by the membership terms of the professional negotiating and consultative committee, the body where clubs and the union negotiate together.

The union has been here before. In 2021, League One and League Two tried to introduce salary caps of £2.5m and £1.5m respectively. That plan was withdrawn after the PFA took the matter to an independent arbitration panel, a neutral group that settles disputes.

Other divisions are moving in different directions. The Championship, the second tier, has loosened its rules. Owners there can now inject up to £33m over three years, and that equity does not count towards the division's 85% wage-to-revenue limit. League Two clubs are not formally involved in the League One talks as of November 2026.

For supporters, the question is simple to ask and hard to answer. When a club loses millions each season, who pays, and for how long? A loss cap would force clubs to live within their means over a set period. A luxury tax would spread money around but leave owners free to spend. Either way, the vote will decide how much room clubs have to chase promotion.