EFL Edges Closer to Landmark Salary Cap Ahead of Annual General Meeting

With the EFL due to hold its annual general meeting next week, one vote will be angled around reducing the percentage of acceptance needed to have a say in financial rules.

This then will likely pave the way for salary caps to be included into EFL competitions for the first time, as a reaction to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

As per the Daily Mail, major changes could be on the horizon for Championship, League One and League Two clubs, and the upcoming meeting will act as indicator on how soon salary caps could be introduced.

Currently, the guidelines stipulate that 75% of clubs in each division must vote in favour of divisional fair play legislation in order for any vote to be passed. What will take place on Monday's meeting will be a vote to reduce that number to two thirds.

It is claimed that this vote is merely acting as a introduction into a definitive salary cap in the near future.

This is not a proposal backed by all three divisions, however, with the Championship much further away from agreeing to new measures than League One and League Two - two divisions who strongly back the idea of capping salaries. The Championship's close relationship with the Premier League is likely down to their hesitancy.

Other measures being considered for the bottom two divisions are to include maximum squad sizes of 20 senior players (those aged over 21), at least eight of whom must be homegrown. Any potential budget cap - currently as £2.5m in League one and £1.5m in league Two - wouldn't apply to those under the age of 21.

Such squad restrictions are primarily to encourage clubs to promote players from their own academies.

With salary cuts such as these, this would represent a significant trimming of wages at a number of clubs, namely the likes of Sunderland who as recently 2017 were in the top flight and are now find themselves the third division.