Martí Cifuentes

A longer explanation…

Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) explained


Update: The EFL have now published more details on SCMP - click here and search for the term SCMP on the page.

Note The info that follows was published before the info from the EFL was made available:

Clubs in the League 1 and League 2 operate within a Spending Constraint framework termed Salary Cost Management Protocol (SMCP). SCMP limits spending on player wages to a percentage of club Turnover. In League 1 clubs can spend a maximum of 60% of their turnover on wages - in League 2, the limit is 55%. There are no restrictions (in themselves) on the amount a club can lose or spend on transfer fees.

Initially introduced into League 2 in 2004/5 for guidance purposes, sanctions for breaching the SCMP thresholds were introduced during the 2011/12 season, with Swindon the first club to be sanctioned under the rules.

The process is interactive with clubs providing the Football League with projections for the spending for the coming season. During the season the clubs provide regular updates on their Turnover and wage bill. Any club that is forecasting a wage spend within 5% of the figure will be scrutinised more closely. Where a club is on course to exceed the limits, the Football League will apply a Transfer Embargo. Crucially, a club doesn't have to overspend to incur the embargo, it only needs to shown to be heading for an overspend. This interactive approach enables clubs to increase their wage bill if their circumstances improve - a successful cup run will generate increased income and the Football League may be able to sanction additional wage spend. Because SCMP doesn't rely on the retrospective scrutiny of club accounts, it is also extremely effective at stopping overspend before the spending actually occurs (something that has been a problem for the Championship's version of FFP).

The Football League's website's explanation of the rules doesn't go into a great deal of detail about how they operate. However they have responded to enquiries and confirmed a number of areas that help us to better understand the rules.

Relegated clubs

The rules apply to all clubs and there is no moratorium for clubs relegated from the Championship. However, Transitional Arrangements are in place whereby clubs are allowed to exclude the wage costs of all players that the club signed pre September of the relegation season, if they were signed on contracts in excess of 3 seasons.

Turnover definition

Under the SCMP rules, the definition of 'Turnover' is particularly important as Turnover is used to determine the maximum wage-spend. Within a traditional accounting perspective, there are usually only three elements of turnover:

Match-day Income
Commercial Income (such as sponsorship)
TV revenue (and any 'merit payments' based on league position)
However the Football League use a is broader definition of Turnover. Crucially, the FL Turnover figure includes donations from the owners to the club and injections of equity. Loans from club owners are understandably not included in the Turnover figure as these would result in growing club debts. up club debts. In League 1 and League 2, a wealthy owner can therefore fund the club spending in a way that is not permitted in other divisions. Manchester City and Leicester for example seem set for punishment for their excessive losses (from UEFA and the Championship respectively) despite the fact that the owners have injected hard cash into the club to finance the spending.

Profit on player sales

Any profit made on player sales is included withinTurnover on a cash basis when the instalments are received.

Player Wages and deductions

Under SCMP, 'Wages' relates to player wages only (director remuneration and general club staff wages are not included in the SCMP calculation). Player wages included in the SCMP calculation relate to all contract players (full contract, non-contract, multiplicity etc.) and loan players. Wage costs for players loaned out to other clubs are deducted for the period of the loan. Wage costs for Youth players on a professional contract are also excluded (i.e. players that have been in the club’s Youth Development scheme and have been given a pro contract); they must be 20 years of age or under at the start of the season to be discounted from the SCMP calculation.

Direct Costs incurred within Turnover

Within Turnover, clubs can include such things as Hospitality/Banqueting income (whether it is match day or non-match day income). The direct costs have to be deducted to reach a figure that is submitted on the SCMP return. For Hospitality/Banqueting for example, the Direct costs are all costs directly attributable to put on a hospitality/banqueting event. This would include food & beverage, direct staff and cleaning costs such as laundry etc.

Wayne be our boss in div 1 if yanks buyout😀

Too expensive 😂

I can too and I wouldn't blame him. The board would only have themselves to blame too because it was obvious to everyone we're going down by not spending this window. Therefore by that logic they may as well have stuck with Ainsworth. 

I don’t see him walking even if we drop. He’s probably just as frustrated as the rest of us and obviously wants reinforcements. He’s might also never have had to deal with such a cowardly bunch before and is a bit shell shocked at how shit the squad actually is. We have a habit of dressing it up to managers coming in and when reality hits it’s a different story. I do think he’s here for the long haul though whatever happens and I really hope he’s given time and doesn’t take any stick if we go down. None of this is his fault and I think the tinkering is simply him trying his best to get a working combo with this pathetic bunch of wankers

We dont know if we can spend though. Some think we can, others don’t. Think they were nuts to appoint Ainsworth but they finally got it right with Marti. Sadly we may have to go down for us to see the best of him when several players will be out of contract and the FFP pressures less of an issue so he can undertake at least a partial re-build.

I think the reason they're not spending is that a takeover is imminent. That's the only reason that makes sense to me, that they don't want to spend any more of their own money. Because to not back a manager of Cifuentes pedigree in order to (pretty much) guarantee we stay in this division is nuts. Relegation would be a devastating blow from which this club may not recover, certainly not in the short-term. Compared to other clubs in this league we've stuck fairly closely to the FFP regs, so surely there must be some wiggle room? Some clubs seem to be able to spend and spend and use ever more creative (AKA dodgy) solutions to cover the outlay.

How about Stoke? They've spent plenty on players in the last couple of seasons.

No more futile mate than the same posts every day just saying “sign a fucking striker ffs!”.

I was simply responding to you saying the board would only have themselves to blame if we don’t sign anyone - as it makes a very large assumption that they can. As you have just acknowledged we don’t know for sure but there is quite a lot of circumstantial evidence that they can’t

And just as much circumstantial evidence that they can? IOW nobody knows one way or the other.

When we consider what is at stake I am going to assume there is a budget of some form, because you also can't assume there is none.

I think where we can all agree is that nobody knows its size.

Marti isn't going to walk.

Why would he forego a major salary increase from his previous club, without any compensation.

He knows the score with our FFP situation, he has touched apon it before in interviews hes done, so he is well aware we cant exactly spend this month without selling someone first.

Could walk if another job on table or mutual agreement.

Don’t think Marti will walk.

Board will have to back him to an extent, and he won’t want a very public failure on his CV.

The club surely can’t afford yet another managerial pay-off - and yet another signal that the job at Loftus Road is a poison chalice.

Think all parties will find a way to work together, even if we’re relegated.

Suspect Marti will be with us for at least a year and, as things stand, I’d be happy with that.