What do English football clubs prefer: sporting or economic performance?

Purpose The paper investigates whether 28 English football clubs competing in the Premier League and Championship prioritize sporting or economic performance. It aims to identify the relationship between sporting and financial efficiency and uncover strategic preferences of individual clubs over a seven-season period (2014/15–2020/21). Design/methodology/approach A quantitative research design based on the slacks-based network data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with the CRS and VRS assumptions was employed. The framework comprises two interlinked sub-models – sporting and economic – connected via the intermediate variable “players' market value.” Performance scores (partial and overall) were computed for each club in every season and aggregated over the study period. Clubs were then classified into four quadrants based on their sporting and economic performance scores. Findings The analysis revealed that sporting performance was generally higher and more stable than economic performance throughout the studied period. Only in the final two seasons did a moderate correlation between economic and sporting efficiency emerge. Clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool FC, AFC Bournemouth and Leeds United were identified as top performers in both domains, while others like Manchester City and Manchester United exhibited higher sporting outcomes relative to their financial efficiency. Huddersfield Town was the only club demonstrating higher economic efficiency compared to sporting success. Originality/value The study introduces a novel application of network DEA to separately assess and integrate economic and sporting performance in professional football clubs. It offers a nuanced understanding of the dual-objective nature of football club management and provides a comparative benchmark for strategic decision-making in sport enterprises. The study identifies a “relegation paradox”, demonstrating that clubs often achieve higher sporting and economic efficiency in the Championship than in the Premier League due to better alignment between resources and competitive intensity.