Fifteen EFL clubs do NOT want to finish the season if it can restart in June due to cash problems suffered in the coronavirus pandemic.
All of those sides are said to be ‘hard-up’ with three of them coming from League One and the other twelve in League Two.
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Several club officials have told Sky Sports News that clubs are just “days” from “going to the wall” and say that clubs are “currently sleepwalking into trouble.”
It is a figure that is on the rise as many owners are left fearing they are unable to pay wages if the campaign gets underway again in two months time.
One unnamed chairman, is claimed to have said that he is willing to write off the contracts of players at his club and effectively end the season now.
Currently, clubs are being advised to let contracts roll on for as long as the coronavirus crisis continues to take hold.
Gary Neville on the struggles facing out of contract EFL players. #SAFC https://t.co/1okF6C4gIP
— The Chronicle (@ChronicleSAFC) April 16, 2020
Gary Neville, co-owner of League Two Salford, said: “There is a horror story coming for many clubs if there aren’t reductions in costs.
“Over 1,000 players in the Championship and Leagues One and Two are out of contract in ten weeks.
“In League One and Two, 50 per cent of players are out of contract.
“That’s scary and clubs have not got the money to recycle them back into the game next season.
“Clubs aren’t going to sign players and offer deals they did before.
“We’re not talking about £200k-a-week players — that’s the one per cent of players in the world.
“We’re talking players on modest wages who’d face a real problem if their income stopped in June.
“It’s an inevitability. Players at the top will get top wages, the players below that will accept less money.
“Players who might be on a few hundred pounds a week are the ones who will suffer.
“It will just cascade down and shock the whole of football.
“In the next few months at many clubs there will be player-cost reductions — that’s just a given.
“People will say it needs to happen and is a correction that’s been coming.
“But, ultimately, it will be players at the lower end who suffer most — the ones who have never earned £1,000 a week.”
EFL chairman Rick Parry recently revealed his plan to get all the remaining matches played in a 56-day period before finishing in August.
Though he told SunSport: “I do not want to waste money on meaningless matches and cut into next season’s budget.
“We’ll have to train for weeks before we could play and there is simply not enough cash coming in to cover that.”
Fans reacted after reading that Fifteen EFL clubs do NOT want to finish the season…
Null and void rewards the failure of clubs at the bottom and fails the teams at the top of a 75% completed season!
— Julie warren (@jwar123) April 16, 2020
Null & void becoming inevitable. Can’t be many clubs still interested in this season. Only the ones chasing promotion.
— D5RSS (@d5_rss) April 16, 2020
Avoids more costs. No income if games are behind closed doors but will incur additional costs of opening the stadium, staffing required, emergency services etc
— David Edwards (@djestoke) April 16, 2020
They can furlough the players if they’re not playing. If they play the games behind closed doors they can’t furlough. Not sure about league 2 but in League 1 the average wage bill is 140k per week. They’re not gonna cover that from ifollow
— G-WBA (@LocalBaggiesFan) April 16, 2020
Don’t then. Forfeit your games and fuck off.
— Rod (@lufcrumham) April 16, 2020
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