With the Swans still to appoint a Sporting Director / Director Of Football (DoF) there seems to be something in the air regards the finances that the club can access prior to July 1st. We’ve had a few conversations and can offer some reasoning behind the month of June being somewhat difficult regards expenditure.

Many will know that there will be a new financial rules called Squad Cost Rules (SCR) for the coming season, but as it stands the Swans are still conforming to the old profit and sustainability rules. (PSR) The caveat is that clubs are carrying out what is being described as a ‘shadow test’ of SCR at this moment in time. Basically that means that PSR will still be adhered to and any breaches will result in action, but clubs can also practice as such using the new rules. If they breach them there will be no punishment. It was introduced to enable a smoother transition for the July 1st SCR starting date.

The SCR system limits Clubs spending on Player and Manager-related costs (including transfer fees) to a set percentage of their income, alongside a limited level of owner funding

The Swans last PSR declaration this year (2026) for the previous year (we will work on that timeframe) basically stated they wouldn’t be able to function under SCR rules afterJuly 1st - as they did and have done for the last three years. Swansea’s historical baseline reveals a highly constrained budget without external support. Their wage-to-revenue ratio sat at a staggering 130%, which is exactly what the new SCR 85% rule is designed to completely eradicate. (BBC) So, you cannot go over 85% of your income. This coming season they will have to comply with the new rules, which will go some way, but not entirely to explaining why Leo Walta won’t officially be a Swansea player until July 1st, and potentially why we are still to see a new DoF.

The PSR figures the Swans revealed this year just don’t allow it.

What can happen from July 1st is that over a three year period the shareholders / investors in Swansea City could put in thirty three million pounds (maximum of fifteen million in one season reducing to a threshold of thirty three million) That could come from another shares issue or what is now being classed as ownership injected cash. That’s a bit of a minefield but basically that could be how money is raised. Snoop Dogg we do know is keen to invest more cash but he will be wanting concrete returns, more licensing and definitely guarantees. Having said that the Swans are currently working on a global expansion programme (sources) to add to the commercial revenue stream. Death Row licensing can be separate from SCR as can be any global brand involved. It will only add to the clubs financial weight.

The new fans park which will generate many thousands of pounds per home game, or should do will have many sponsors within the park, and although the club are working on that the reality is it isn’t as easy as some would think. Big brands are being talked to, but sealing anything positive will take time. The aim of course will be to finance the park through sponsorship and commercial deals in a perfect world.

There’s no getting away from it that the Swans ownership have excelled in supporting the Swans with around twenty one million pounds injected into the club in recent times. That is going to be far more difficult now with the fifteen million ceiling. Football is now encouraging commercial revenue from every club in the Championship. In a way it has to be a part of running an elite professional football club. These things were not in play way back when, but now are seen as a must. The EFL will tell you it is assisting clubs to remain solvent but of course the penalties for SCR will be much the same as PSR. (but on a rolling scale, not at the end of one year) Now though a constant need to report over a season will highlight where a club is heading whereas before it was a one time submission.

Going back to the Sporting Director there has been a rumour regards Craig Gardner whose last club was Birmingham City. The manager of the Blues, Chris Davies is on around £650,000 a year. By comparison clubs will pay a Sporting Director around ten to twenty percent less than the manager. Sporting Director roles in the Championship for established clubs come in at around £300,000 a year but with additional pay for squad player sales, wage bill reduction, and achieving promotion and agreed targets. Knighthead Capital Management who are the 96.4% owners of the Blues have a very good income stream which financiers state places them very high up the food chain for commercial revenue. Especially for the Championship. The real issue with Gardner is he left his post last month stating he needed a rest from his day to day role. That doesn’t ring right with his links to Swansea City, if they are at all true.

Then we heard rumours of Steve Brown who was the Director Of Scouting at Manchester United leaving in June 2025. **We can reveal that his salary request was dismissed by Swansea City and unless there has been a meeting of minds in the last two weeks he is out of the running. The Swans just couldn’t match what he wanted by a considerable way. We have no news on Mikael Dorsin who has been featured on these pages in recent times, but again his financial demands will be high unless there’s one hell of a package ready to be agreed.

We hope you enjoyed our explanations regards the new SCR rulings, it isn’t a full brief but you will be more versed on that side of the clubs finances moving into the coming season. As for the Sporting Director role some are guessing it could be July based on the clubs finances this month, others are stating it should be very soon possibly as quick as next week.

It’s all a guessing game and really only CEO Tom Gorringe and a few mates know the answer. Those that scrutinise social media may well have seen some non confrontational dialogue between one of those friends and this website. The fact this person knew what was going on, clearly as a result of being divulged information by ‘someone’ at the club we find a little startling. And finally on Tom and his role. We have absolutely no doubt he works day and night as CEO of Swansea City. We also have no doubt that he is covering every single area he can at the club. But really that’s the problem, the bloke needs help.

With so many changes in the immediate future there needs to be more than one man covering and involved in so many roles. For us there are red flags ahead, and all we can do is hope that Gorringe can handle it. Of course if he is a success then our club is a success, and isn’t that really what we all want ?

Photograph Manchester United FC