BRADFORD City chief executive officer Ryan Sparks revealed that the club voted in favour of changes to League One's salary cost management protocol (SCMP) for 2026-27 for the greater good of the division as a whole.

Approved changes mean that the percentage of turnover which third-tier clubs can spend on wages has been reduced from 60 to 50 per cent, with manager costs now also included within the SCMP calculation.

It is hoped that the move will reduce losses and reliance on owner funding in a division where inflation in player wages has risen dramatically in recent seasons.

Clubs relegated from the Championship will be permitted to spend 65 per cent of turnover on wages during their first season in League One, reduced from 75 per cent under the existing rules.

Valley Parade, home of Bradford City. Picture: Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Valley Parade, home of Bradford City. Picture: Tony Johnson.

Clubs also approved changing the staggered approach to equity injections in the division, meaning all will be included in the calculation at 50 per cent.

The average investment by League One club owners in 2025-26 was £9.6million, up from £2.6m four years ago.

Sparks told The Yorkshire Post: "I think for clubs who have been unable to manage their finances and set budgets that they can cope with long term, then for those organisations, the rules changes probably assist.

"We didn't necessarily think as a club it was necessary because we don't believe we sit in the bracket of needing that level of guidance from above.

Bradford City chief executive officer Ryan Sparks (right) with manager Graham Alexander following promotion from League Two at the end of the 2024-25 season. Picture courtesy of BCAFC.

"But in the same breath, when we came to vote - as we have done in the past on several occasions - we supported the collective and voted in favour of it.

"Because when we tend to vote, we'll take that view. That's been the case for the relatively new Sky TV deal.

"As a League Two club, it was well documented that it didn't suit us whatsoever. In fact, it was a reduction in funding and an increase in funding for our rivals.

"We took that on the chin because we voted as though we were a League One club, where it benefits us. It's not that we didn't agree, we just didn't necessarily believe that that was incredibly necessary.

"I don't think it (latest changes) were that desperate for us, but for the wider picture in the wider game - and you look at some of the financial results that clubs have recorded in our league in the last two or three seasons - then perhaps it was needed for others and may start to reset the dial."

In the here and now, Sparks has not yet seen major changes regarding the wage demands of players as yet with some clubs still ‘inflating the market' in his view.

It suggests that the new changes will take time to take hold and for some clubs to get used to the new realities.

Sparks added: "Early in the (summer) proceedings, I haven't seen a major reduction in demands of wages. There are still several clubs who are inflating the market.

"There's no doubt about that, and there's a ripple effect of that. That actually, in my view, doesn't come from above us - i.e. the Championship or the Premier League - it's actually coming from below us. That's where the inflation starts."