While the Autumn Budget always prompts speculation in finance, hospitality or retail, its impact on football should not be underestimated. 

Clubs are still reckoning with the impact of the previous new measures in recent Budget announcements, with even more shortly on their way. At a time when the books of England’s biggest clubs are under the microscope, the Chancellor’s announcements could provide further headaches. 

Financial challenges

English football is one of the economy’s greatest successes, generating more than £9bn last season. Yet 94 per cent of clubs from the Premier League to National League are loss-making. 

These issues have challenged English football for some time, and while the sport attracts substantial global interest, rising costs and uneven revenue distribution are creating severe financial challenges and a precipitous reliance on owner funding.  

Even if a club is increasing revenue, growth needs to be supported by sufficient liquidity and credible contingency planning. More than 60 per cent of EFL and National League clubs are effectively insolvent, with liabilities exceeding book value of assets. What clubs do next, and how they assess their financial affairs will be critical, especially with the prospect of further cost rises in the Budget.

Football pressures

For all the transfer spend, a club’s books go beyond talent on the training ground. Recent increases to NICs and National Minimum Wage have hit clubs hard, where margins are already tight. Increases to statutory pay levels have been a stealth tax for clubs, directly increasing the cost of staffing matchday operations. 

These additional costs are particularly felt by smaller clubs. Their supporters also inevitably feel the pinch in corresponding ticket price increases. Given the prospect of tax rises seems more likely by the day, fans may be squeezed even further, which could see a subsequent hit in gate revenue. If the Chancellor also goes after employers and businesses, clubs already struggling financially may face further pressures from both sides. 

Image rights uncertainty

The 2025 Budget announced the government’s intention to legislate that all image rights payments related to employment would be treated as taxable employment income from 6 April 2027. 

Whilst image rights have always been a grey area for tax, HMRC has historically tolerated image rights payments so long as the proportion of remuneration is reasonable, players meet criteria for a high level of public recognition, and that images are monetised beyond contractual employment terms. 

For the top international clubs, that public recognition will be obvious and won’t prompt any greater scrutiny, but the suggested legislation draws a clear line. Any link between employment and image right payments, and the tax advantages, will vanish.

HMRC has long focused on targeting clubs rather than specific players but that may be set to change. The distinction is never so obvious in commercial reality, and there are often blurred lines between a club and a player’s brand.

Young international players are already being asked to reckon with the learning curve of the UK tax system, before also having to manage more complex image rights arrangements. If the Chancellor also installs additional wealth taxation, this burden will worsen, and high-profile players will need to ensure they are surrounded by a good support system to manage their obligations.

Budget planning

There has been considerably less speculation in the run-up to this Autumn Budget compared to last year’s, but clubs could see considerable increases in cost pressures announced on Budget Day.

At a time when they are facing sizeable financial challenges, additional tax burdens may only darken the outlook. The picture may look very different by 29 October, but teams need to adjust their approach to survive without over-reliance on owners, and the planning for that needs to start as soon as possible. 

Tom Wilson is head of sport and Phil Clayton is a partner at chartered accountancy firm