Football finance, from the outside inThe Orange LedgerFor professionals

Nottingham Forest

Squad cost ratio (SCR) for the 2026/27 season: the Orange Ledger's independent estimate for the Premier League's 1 March 2027 test, updated as new data arrives.

SCR under the rule97.5%Range 87.6% to 99.4% · ranked 18 of 20
Before player-sale profit124.5%Squad costs against revenue alone
Distance to 85%12.5 pts overBREACH_NOTIFICATION

Where the revenue goes

Squad costs as a share of revenue
Player and head-coach wages: £149.4m, 71.4% of revenueTransfer amortisation: £105.9m, 50.6% of revenueAgents' fees: £8.2m, 3.9% of revenueRelief on players lent out, net: −£3.0m. The hatched part of the costs is offset by it, so squad costs are £260.5mCosts exceed revenue by £51.3mSCR limit124.5%of revenue

Costs exceed revenue by £51.3m

Squad costs under the rule
Player and head-coach wages: £149.4m, 55.9% of revenue + avg sale profitTransfer amortisation: £105.9m, 39.6% of revenue + avg sale profitAgents' fees: £8.2m, 3.1% of revenue + avg sale profitRemaining revenue: £6.8m, 2.5% of revenue + avg sale profitRelief on players lent out, net: −£3.0m. The hatched part of the costs is offset by it, so squad costs are £260.5mSCR limit97.5%of revenue +avg sale profit
  • Player and head-coach wages £149.4m
  • Transfer amortisation £105.9m
  • Agents' fees £8.2m
  • Relief on players lent out, net −£3.0m
  • Remaining revenue

The squad costs the same £260.5m in both rings; only what it is measured against changes. Adding the three-year average profit on player sales (£58.1m a year) to revenue takes the ratio from 124.5% to 97.5%: that gap is what selling players is worth to Nottingham Forest under the rule.

Squad costs and revenue: the Orange Ledger's estimate for the 1 March 2027 test, rolled forward from the 2024/25 accounts; three-year average of player-sale profit. The 85% tick marks the rule's limit on each ring.

Filed accounts, 2024/25

Revenue, £m
223.0
Profit before tax, £m, as filed
(71.1)
Net assets, £m
(246.9)

Premier League, nearest group accounts as filed at Companies House, read twice. Losses and net liabilities in brackets.

20 seasons of finances →
Next date for Nottingham Forest31 March 2027Nottingham Forest's 2025/26 accounts due at Companies House: the filing that tests this estimateFull calendar →

How the SCR is built

Estimate for the 1 March 2027 test, £m

Player and head-coach wages149.4
Transfer fees, spread over contracts105.9
Agents' fees8.2
Loans, net: players borrowed, less relief on players lent(3.0)
Squad costs260.5
Revenue counted by the rule209.2
Three-year average profit on player sales58.1
Revenue plus averaged sale profit267.3
SCR under the rule97.5%
Before player-sale profit124.5%

SCR = squad costs ÷ (revenue counted by the rule + three-year average profit on player sales).

Latest filed accounts

2024/25, year to 30 June 2025, £m

Turnover221.7
Matchday20.3
Media158.6
Merchandising10.1
Other commercial28.4
Loan fees received4.4
Staff costs, all employees166.7
Transfer fees written off (amortisation)68.9
Profit on player sales7.0
Profit or loss before tax(78.9)
Squad book value (player registrations)178.9

Nottingham Forest Football Club Limited (company 01630402), as filed at Companies House. The SCR uses the club's accounts, rolled forward to 2026/27.

SCR 2026/27 articles

Figures are from the latest completed checkpoint. They are the Orange Ledger's estimates, not official figures. Nottingham Forest's finances, season by season · All 20 clubs.

Financial sanctions on record

Every decision, with its source, is in the sanctions register.

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