Football FinanceAdministration history
English football's insolvency archive
Every recorded administration, company voluntary arrangement, liquidation and expulsion event in English football. The clubs that nearly went under, the ones that didn't make it back.
| Date | Club | Event | Pts | Outcome | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08 | Sheffield Wednesday | EFL business plan | 0 | Ongoing | Late wages saga through 2024-25 under Dejphon Chansiri. Multiple HMRC winding-up petitions resolved. Under EFL business plan oversight. |
| 2025-06 | Morecambe | sale completion | 0 | Survived | Sold by Jason Whittingham's Bond Group to Panjab Warriors after prolonged dispute that almost saw the club expelled from the EFL in June 2025. |
| 2024-12 | Reading | sale (avoided administration) | 0 | Survived | Sold by Dai Yongge to Rob Couhig consortium December 2024 after multiple winding-up petitions in 2023-24. Points deductions for late wages but no formal administration. |
| 2021-09 | Derby County | administration | 21 | Survived | Mel Morris-era Derby entered administration with debts over £60m. Hit with 12-point automatic deduction plus 9 for breaching accounting rules. Relegated to League One. Bought by David Clowes' Clowes Developments June 2022. |
| 2020-09 | Macclesfield Town | liquidation | — | Liquidated | Wound up by High Court over £500k debt. Amar Alkadhi era. Phoenix club Macclesfield FC formed by supporters in summer 2020. |
| 2020-07 | Wigan Athletic | administration | 12 | Survived | Entered administration weeks after takeover by Hong Kong-based Au Yeung Wai Kay group. Phoenix 2021 Ltd / Talal Al Hammad consortium bought the club March 2021. |
| 2019-08 | Bury | expulsion | — | Liquidated | Expelled from the EFL after Steve Dale failed to provide proof of funding. Liquidated. First club to be removed from the EFL in 27 years. Phoenix club Bury AFC formed by fans. |
| 2019-05 | Bolton Wanderers | administration | 12 | Survived | Bolton entered admin under Ken Anderson. Football Ventures (Whites) Ltd took over August 2019. Sharon Brittan since chairperson. |
| 2013-03 | Coventry City | administration | 10 | Survived | SISU Capital-owned Coventry administered. Spent 2013-2014 playing home games at Northampton's Sixfields. SISU retained ownership through SBS&L Ltd phoenix entity. |
| 2012-02 | Rangers (legacy/cross-border) | liquidation | 10 | Liquidated | Scottish but worth noting for cross-border football fans. Craig Whyte-era Rangers liquidated. New entity Sevco 5088 / The Rangers Football Club Ltd formed June 2012, started in Scottish Division Three. |
| 2011-03 | Plymouth Argyle | administration | 10 | Survived | Administered with debts over £17m. James Brent / Akkeron Group bought the club October 2011. |
| 2010-03 | Chester City | liquidation | — | Liquidated | Wound up by HMRC March 2010 after Stephen Vaughan saga. Phoenix Chester FC formed by supporters May 2010. |
| 2010-02 | Portsmouth | administration | 9 | Survived | First Premier League club to enter administration. Owed £138m. Subsequent further administration 2012. Eventually saved by Pompey Supporters' Trust April 2013 — became largest fan-owned club in English football until sale to Tornante / Eric Eisner 2017. |
| 2009-04 | Southampton | administration | 10 | Survived | Rupert Lowe-era. Parent Southampton Leisure Holdings entered admin. Markus Liebherr bought the club July 2009, transformed under Nicola Cortese. |
| 2007-11 | Luton Town | administration | 30 | Survived | Successive administrations 2007 and 2008. Hit with combined 40-point deductions across two seasons. Relegated out of the EFL May 2009. |
| 2007-05 | Leeds United | administration | 15 | Survived | Ken Bates-era Leeds entered admin. The infamous 15-point deduction on entry to League One imposed retrospectively. Sold to Bates' Geneva-based Forward Sports Fund. |
| 2006-05 | Rotherham United | administration | 10 | Survived | Tony Stewart later took control August 2008 and remained owner through subsequent stability. |
| 2004-12 | Wrexham | administration | 10 | Survived | Mark Guterman era — administration after Crown Court found illegal-loan accounting. Long road back; Reynolds/McElhenney era a different chapter entirely. |
| 1999-03 | Crystal Palace | administration | 0 | Survived | Mark Goldberg era. Acquired by Simon Jordan May 2000. Subsequent further administration 2010 under Jordan, then CPFC 2010 / Steve Parish takeover. |
What counts
Formal administration (an insolvency practitioner appointed), CVA (creditor-approved restructuring), liquidation (the club company dissolved) and expulsion from a league. Clubs that recovered through ownership change without a formal insolvency event are noted as "survived" where the financial distress was substantial enough to warrant inclusion.
This is an editorial archive, not legal advice. For the canonical record of any single event, consult the London Gazette notices or the relevant Insolvency Service entry.
Curated by Dragon Football editorial. Add events to plugin/dragon-football-data/includes/data/administrations.php.
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