If the last few months has shown us anything, it is that many football league clubs are teetering on the brink of financial meltdown.
Many teams are mortgaging the actual existence of their club in hope of reaching the promised land of the Premier League.
Swansea, however, are one of the better run Championship clubs and any proposed salary cap could see the club become favourites to earn promotion.
The Championship is a place where, with poor financial management, a club can be ruined and simply sink through the divisions or even go out of business.
According to reports, for every £1 of income earned by the division’s teams, the players are receiving £1.06 in wages and the average weekly pay packet is £29,000.
Swansea enjoyed a terrific time in the Premier League, which saw them win the League Cup and enter the Europa League in 2013/14, where they reached the knockout stages before succumbing to a strong Napoli side.
Sevilla won the first of three in a row that season and have the chance to win it again this year as they have reached the final, although Inter are seen as the favourites in the Europa League betting.
However, Swansea’s time in the top division eventually came to an end after a 7 year stint, as they finished 18th in the 2017/18 season.
Relegation is and as things currently stand always been a huge financial headache for clubs, with the Swans suffering with now Championship players on Premier League players contract. Parachute payments or not, that sort of spending and loss of Premier League revenue is going to catch up with you sooner or later.
Financial services organisation Deloitte has laid out some legislation that could help Championship sides.
They have recommended a salary cap of 70 percent of a team’s revenue to counteract the effects of ludicrous spending. This measure would be similar to that of rules already enforced in rugby union and Formula One.
Last year, in the 2018/19 season, Championship sides lost a total of £300m and this past season will be far worse.
Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports News, head of Deloitte’s sports business group Dan Jones said: “A salary cap is a very blunt instrument, but if you were to say you can only spend 70 percent of revenue on salary, and apply that in 18-19, you take £300m out of the wage bill and you pretty much wipe out the losses to the Championship at a stroke by that single measure.”
Swansea are a well-run club but they have not been immune to some weird decisions during the latter stages of their Premier League tenure, especially as the team were fighting to retain their Premier League status.
The sheer panic of not having top division money or the hope of attaining it can be ruinous. Take away that ability to spend beyond your means and the game will be in a healthier state.
Sadly the Swans missed out on promotion via the play-offs last season, after a whirlwind final few weeks of the season.
But this wasn’t achieved through careless spending and is slow burn project to get back to the promised land, with Steve Cooper putting his trust in youth.
If any salary cap measure was to come into force, the Swans are in a good place to take advantage of it.