English football clubs face a roughly £20m annual bill to fund the sport's new watchdog - double the estimate provided by Sir Keir Starmer's government.

Sky News has learnt that the Independent Football Regulator (IFR) will publish proposals on Friday for Premier League clubs to pay the largest share of its costs through a new levy to be imposed from next season.

The English Football League clubs in the Championship and Leagues One and Two will pay smaller sums, while it was unclear on Thursday night whether the 24 National League clubs - which are also regulated by the IFR - would be required to pay more than a token amount.

Sources said the annual bill of roughly £20m was in line with recent estimates from within the sport, given the scale of resources the IFR now required.

One suggested that the figure included some costs not directly connected to the IFR's administration.

It was also unclear how much clubs would be liable to pay for the IFR's establishment, with those costs having been borne by the government but with the ultimate intention that the sport would foot the bill.

The regulator is playing a critical role in brokering a settlement between the Premier League and EFL over the level of solidarity payments which will flow through the professional football pyramid.

A firm deal has yet to materialise, months after the top flight proposed a decade-long agreement worth more than £1.5bn.

The IFR may also formally intervene in the situation unfolding at Manchester City, which has vowed to appeal against findings that it was guilty of 115 charges of financial misconduct.

Last week, the regulator published its inaugural State of the Game report showing that 94pc of clubs it supervises are loss-making.

The IFR declined to comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Clubs face £20m bill for football watchdog's new levy