A leading EFL advisor on fixtures fears the rest of the season is likely to be abandoned and reckons the Coronavirus will force some clubs to go bust.
Brian Caldwell runs Shrewsbury Town who are 16th in League One with eight games left.
The Scot is in the EFL’s ‘fixtures working party’ and can’t see the season re-starting anytime soon.
It is suspended until April 30 at the earliest but Caldwell is very pessimistic about the season getting finished.
He admitted this week to Shrewsbury fans’ Salopcast: “Can I see the season being played out, I don’t know, I have real reservations.
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“The original plan was for games in May and continue it on until mid June after the Euros were cancelled.
“Plan B was then to play it behind closed doors and they had all these other plans, but is this situation going to get any better to allow us to play football in a safe environment?
“It is not just about 22 players of football all coming together as one. There’s four referees and coaching staff as well and certain media.
“ Boris Johnson has said no gatherings which includes anyone from the emergency services. Even if you had it behind closed doors, you would still need an paramedic ambulance there.
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“Straight away I am thinking how on earth are you going to work around that?
“You are looking at it all the time because it is a very fluid situation and things are changing by the day.
“But even if you play until June 15th , you are then looking at play-offs which would take a couple of weeks, that would take you into July.
“The next season was due to start early August 2021 so you push that back but because the Euros are now at the back end of next season that doesn’t help you throwing fixtures in.
“You are running out of game time and the players like any employees are due 28 days of holiday a year.
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“So when are they actually getting their holiday which the PFA may insist on? It is difficult to fit that in because players then need a pre-season.
“It is hard and players generally are bored to death right now, they want to play football and be training everyday and get back into a routine.
“This is surreal, everyone feels like they are in a movie – it is never ending but the most important thing is public health and trying to get the nation back on its feet.”
Caldwell estimates the decision to halt football will cost the likes of Shrewsbury up to £250,000 in gate money if games are either scrapped or played behind closed doors.
He reckons it could prove the final straw for some cash-strapped clubs.
He added: “We are one of the fortunate clubs in the county that can sustain and absorb it because we do have a reserve.
“But there are a lot of clubs out there who won’t have that. It is a very tough time for clubs with no games for cash flow and income. One club in League Two is really struggling.
“There will be a lot of clubs out there living hand to mouth.”
But Caldwell is not holding his breath for the wealthy Premier League clubs to bail them out.
He said: “You consider your own club’s situation and don’t necessarily consider the bigger picture.”
