There is no reliable like-for-like figure for how much less total revenue Luton Town, Plymouth Argyle and Cardiff City will receive in their first League One seasons. The available figures cover different seasons and divisions. Luton’s reported £65.5 million turnover fall was from the Premier League to the Championship, not from the Championship to League One; Cardiff’s published accounts cover its relegation season, and Plymouth’s chairman did not give a specific revenue shortfall.
Why there is no single figure for the drop
“Money lost” can mean several different things: central league distributions, total turnover, cash received during a season or operating profit. Those measures are not interchangeable. Turnover can include matchday and commercial income, player trading and league payments; profit also depends on costs such as wages. A club can therefore have lower league income without its turnover or losses changing by the same amount.
The published figures for these clubs do not compare each one’s final Championship season with a complete first season in League One on a consistent basis. They cannot support a precise total or a ranking of which club will lose the most.
What the reported figures show for each club
| Club | Period covered | What is reported | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luton Town | Years ended 30 June 2024 and 30 June 2025; the latter was the club’s first Championship season after relegation from the Premier League. | The Luton Town Supporters’ Trust reported turnover of £132.3m in the earlier year and £66.8m in 2024/25, a £65.5m fall. It also reported a £17.1m operating profit in 2024/25. | The £65.5m change is not the Championship-to-League-One fall. |
| Cardiff City | Year ended 31 May 2025, the season Cardiff was relegated. | BBC Sport reported turnover of £25.8m, up £2.6m on the previous year, wages of £29.1m and a £35.1m loss. | These are not results for a full League One season. |
| Plymouth Argyle | Chairman’s statement dated 4 December 2025. | Simon Hallett said the year would be significantly loss-making and described shareholder funding and non-matchday investments supporting operations. | His statement did not quantify a League One revenue decrease. |
Luton: parachute payments soften the change, but do not provide a total loss figure
The Luton Town Supporters’ Trust reported that the club confirmed parachute payments of approximately £49m for 2024/25 and £40m for 2025/26, with no payment due in 2026/27. The Trust said relegation to League One does not itself stop the scheduled payment. It also reported that the club expected league distributions to decrease significantly in 2026/27, with staged payments from earlier player sales and squad restructuring partly offsetting the decrease.
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The £17.1m operating profit reported for the year ended 30 June 2025 was attributed by the Trust to the first Premier League parachute payment and player trading. Player-trading profits were reported at £17m. In the same period, operating costs fell by £17.9m, principally because player contracts included relegation clauses. These figures show how payments, sales and lower costs can affect the accounts; they do not reveal the net revenue change in League One.
Cash timing and EFL turnover calculations are different
The EFL’s 2025/26 regulations give an example in which a club forward-finances all of its first-year parachute payment and 70% of its second-year payment. For relevant-turnover calculations in its first League One season, the example allows the club to include only the remaining 30% of the second-year payment. That is a regulatory accounting treatment, not proof of how much cash a particular club receives in that season. Luton’s actual cash timing cannot be inferred from the example without knowing its financing arrangements.
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Cardiff: the published accounts are for the relegation season
Cardiff’s £25.8m turnover, £29.1m wage bill and £35.1m loss, reported by BBC Sport for the year ended 31 May 2025, describe the season that ended in relegation. The rise in turnover of £2.6m compared with the previous year does not show what Cardiff earned in League One. The club’s March 2025 supporter update discussed costs in its prior 2023/24 accounts, including academy development costs, but those details do not establish a post-relegation revenue shortfall.
Plymouth: a loss forecast is not a measure of lost league income
In his 4 December 2025 Chairman’s Chat, Simon Hallett said Plymouth was carrying the financial consequences of relegation and that the year would be significantly loss-making. He said shareholders, mainly himself, were funding losses through loans and equity, while non-matchday investments also supported operations. He did not state an exact revenue figure attributable to the move to League One.
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Hallett also described player trading as part of the club’s operating model, and said weaker recruitment and fewer players available for sale could leave shareholders carrying a larger share of losses. That is why a lower division’s income does not translate mechanically into an equal-sized loss or a fixed reduction in spending.
What the EFL’s wage rule changes—and what it does not
The EFL announced on 15 May 2026 that clubs approved financial-control changes for 2026/27. Under the announced rule, a club relegated from the Championship can spend 65% of turnover on wages in its first League One season, down from the previous 75% allowance. This is a limit on permitted wage costs, not a forecast of how much turnover or central distribution income a club will receive.
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What would make a fair club-to-club comparison possible?
A reliable comparison needs complete accounts covering each club’s first League One season and a consistent definition of turnover. Those accounts would need to be read alongside the timing of league distributions and parachute payments, player-sale receipts, and costs. Until comparable figures are available, Luton’s Premier League-to-Championship change, Cardiff’s relegation-season accounts and Plymouth’s loss forecast answer different questions rather than measuring the same League One drop.
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