The chair of the Independent Football Regulator says the English game must "act before it is too late" to tackle the financial dangers facing it.
The IFR published its draft 'State of the Game' report on Tuesday which found that while English football generated £9 billion ($11.9bn) in revenue last season, 94% of clubs in the top five divisions were loss-making.
Thirty-two clubs could not survive more than 30 days without owner funding, the report found, while 17 would be loss-making even if their players played for free.
IFR chair David Kogan said in the report's foreword that English club football was simultaneously the "richest, best and most deeply competitive in the world while also standing on the edge of financial disaster."
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The report forecasts total debt in English football would rise above £5bn ($6.6bn) by the end of this season, and that net transfer debt was approximately £3.4bn ($4.5bn), at a time when broadcast revenues are predicted to plateau or decline in the next cycle.
Kogan told the Press Association: "Everyone needs to take into account the fact that nothing is ever forever.
"We have to look at [the potential for broadcast revenues to fall] as a risk factor, and just make a judgement call, and actually also see what happens if the money does reduce.
"At the moment, the sun is shining. There's £9bn a year coming in. This is the very moment to address the issues of liquidity and losses and debt, before suddenly you see the money going backwards and it's too late.
"And our intention is to act before it's too late. And I believe, actually, the world of football wants that, and that's what we're going to do."
The IFR's action plan calls for reform to football's distribution mechanisms, finding that the average Premier League club earned 8.7 times more than the average Championship club in the 2024-25 season, compared to 2.7 times in 1992-93, the first season of the Premier League.
Kogan has been in the room with the Premier League and the EFL in recent months as they continue discussions over a 'New Deal' on funding and cost controls between the leagues.
"I have observed them dealing with issue after issue after issue, and reaching broad consensus on those issues, and inherently believe that the deal they're talking about now, if it comes off, might be effective in addressing some of the issues that we raise," he said.