SPFL Championship: staying licensed on a tight budget

Indicative benchmarks — estimates, not official league limits

Championship-level Scottish clubs run on tight, community-scale budgets under SFA licensing: annual accounts, going-concern status and obligations kept current. No numeric domestic cap is published, so Zelador scores these clubs against indicative benchmarks calibrated for smaller revenue bases — labeled as such — while tracking the obligations that licensing actually checks.

Frequently asked questions

What financial rules apply in the Scottish Championship?

SFA club licensing: audited accounts, going-concern status and no overdue payables. No published numeric spending cap.

Why are the benchmarks labeled indicative?

Because no numeric domestic cap is published, and presenting an estimate as an official limit would be dishonest. Codified rules are shown as codified; benchmarks are always labeled as benchmarks.

How does Zelador Football help?

Budgeting, cash-flow projection and health scoring sized for small clubs, with the licensing obligations kept visible year-round.

Related rules

• SPFL Premiership: licensing, sustainability and what gets measured
  How financial control works in the SPFL Premiership: SFA club licensing, UEFA rules for European qualifiers, and the benchmarks Zelador applies.
• EFL Championship: Squad Cost Rules replace the £39M P&S limit
  From 2026/27 Squad Cost Rules cap Championship player and manager costs at 85% of income, plus a £33M equity top-up: what replaced PSR and the £39M limit.
• League One: the SCMP wage ratio fell to 50%
  League One SCMP fell from 60% to 50% of turnover for 2026/27, with manager costs now counted. What changed, and what the PFA is contesting in the High Court.
• League Two: the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP)
  League Two SCMP caps player wages at 50% of turnover, unchanged since 2018/19. In-season monitoring, registration embargoes, and the new IFR licence.