When will the Premier League financial handcuffs finally be unlocked?

Frustration among football fans is nothing new – but the Premier League’s financial sustainability rules have driven it to new heights on Tyneside.

Ben Briggs explores why and whether financial freedom might be on the horizon.

Ex-Newcastle player Elliott Anderson in action for Nottingham Forest.

Last Tuesday marked four years since the the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia spent £300million to acquire an 80% stake in Newcastle United.

In the immediate aftermath, many believed NUFC’s new owners would go on a spending spree to buy the players to take the club to the very top of the world’s footballing hierarchy.

This, however, is not the way things panned out.

Instead, Newcastle have spent the last four years tussling with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) – which have effectively stunted the club’s owners’ ability to spend their vast wealth on title-winning talent.

But what is PSR and how does it work?

In simple terms, these rules were introduced in the 2015-16 season, intended to prevent clubs from spending beyond their financial capabilities – and so going bust.

PSR allows a club to make losses of up to £105million over a three-year period, when taking into account transfer fees, player wages, and manager pay-outs.

The Premier League’s financial rules are controversial among fans.

But while the Premier League insists the PSR are about keeping clubs from business disaster, fans of clubs like Newcastle feel they have created permanent unfairness, by favouring the big established clubs which already have the biggest business budgets.

Fans argue that these elite clubs – like Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United – have been handed a permanent unfair advantage by PSR, because their far greater wealth and business income means they can permanently spend more on new talent.

Newcastle United fans, in particular, have been incredibly vocal in their frustration, given the huge wealth of their new owners – which PSR means can’t be unlocked.

Many feel the club shouldn’t be shackled by the constraints of PSR and see these rules as fundamentally anti-competitive.

“I think they should be able to spend what they want, like past other clubs have,” were the words of ‘Clare’, a 49 year-old primary mental health worker in North Tyneside.

She points to teams like Chelsea, who were taken over in 2003 by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, as well as Manchester City, who were taken over by the hugely wealthy Abu Dhabi royal family investment fund, run by Sheikh Mansour, in 2008.

These teams were not required to operate under the strict financial regulations that clubs now face, and so were able to climb to the top significantly more easily.

On top of the restriction on spending, Newcastle have also been forced to sell multiple exciting young players in recent years, to comply with PSR – most notably young local prodigy Elliott Anderson.

This, perhaps understandably, has led to mass outrage among Newcastle supporters, who saw the player as a key individual for the future of their club.

‘Andrew’, a 59 year-old dispatch manager at North East Ambulance Service, stated: “It shows how unfair PSR is, and it feels we’re being punished for trying to grow.”

Many supporters seem to echo this view and feel as if the club is not being afforded the opportunity to develop itself.

“The top six don’t want other clubs being taken over and buying whoever they want,” were the words of ‘Paul’, a 53 year-old ICT support officer from Newcastle – a suspicion widely held within the Newcastle fanbase.

Some even see the rules as a targeted attack on their club.

But Newcastle fans are not alone in their anger: disapproval of PSR is shared across numerous other Premier League clubs trying to break into the elite of English football.

Aston Villa, for example, have been hampered in much the same way; being forced to, somewhat ironically, sell one of their most exciting young players, Jacob Ramsey, to Newcastle.

On top of this, the deal that saw Elliott Anderson sold to Nottingham Forest last summer also saw Greek goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos come the other way in an attempt to ease Forest’s PSR concerns.

The PSR rules are set to remain in place for the 2025/26 season – but there are rumours of potential changes, with Premier League chief executive Richard Masters reportedly weighing up potential options that could see a new ‘squad cost ratio’ system introduced.

It remains unclear though; will this be the key to finally unlock Newcastle’s proverbial handcuffs?