Clubs in League One and League Two will be restricted in the amount of money put into the club by owners that can be used to pay player wages and transfer fees from the 2025-26 season.
Under the new rules parties will only be able to use part of any investment above £500,000.
League One owners who put £1m or more into a club will only be able to spend 60% on player-related expenditure while League Two will only be allowed to spend 50%.
The rules introduce equity investment, where owners buy shares in a club, in line with the Football League’s Payroll Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) – part of the Financial Fair Play rules to help control clubs’ financial losses .
Under current SCMP rules, League One sides can spend 60% of sales on wages and transfer fees and League Two 50%, but 100% of any equity investment.
Another rule change means that only 60%, in League One, and 50%, in League Two, of extra football income – such as prize money, trophy income or transfer fees received – will be able to be used for player-related spending. , where previously all this money could be spent on the squad.
It means that if the owner of a League One team invests £100 million in their club they can spend just over £60 million on players.
Owners can still spend an unlimited amount of money on non-player-related expenses such as infrastructure improvements or community projects.
