Gillingham chairman Paul Scally has predicted that EFL clubs will be in danger, and that some will run out of money entirely in as little as a month's time and has accused a small portion of footballers of simply “not getting it” when it comes to taking pay cuts.
His worry focuses on smaller sides - but isn't isolated to the leagues below the Championship, where Nottingham Forest compete.
Scally’s side have already entered negotiations with players about coming to an agreement over the payment of their wages over the coming months with a return date for football still very much up in the air.
June 6 is the current date penciled into the diary, if reports are to be believed, with lockdown in the UK currently set to end on May 7.
But as the rate of coronavirus infection across Europe shows little sign of dramatic decline it looks increasingly likely that date will be pushed back further.
Scally took charge at Priestfields Stadium in 1995 and helped to fund Gillingham’s promotion out of League One and into the Championship
But he has now admitted that he would be “petrified” if his club were promoted to that division now, a league he believes is set to be hit the hardest by the coronavirus crisis.
“I don’t think that we will be playing the remaining games that we have left outstanding in front of crowds,” he told TalkSport.
“So we will not get any sponsorship money and the TV money is, understandably, under threat.
“Where are we going to find the money to pay wages later on?
“We probably have another month or two [until we run out of money], without anything else happening internally,” he admitted.
“It all depends on the players and we are in heavy discussions with those.
“But there are a number of players, not at Gillingham but throughout the country, that are not seemingly getting it.
“I don't think they realise the problems with their clubs.
“I would be petrified if my side were promoted to the Championship at the moment.”
He added: “Public opinion does not look good for football right now, particularly at the top level. The man in the street is not impressed with what he is hearing about wealth and about wages.
“I think it is going to be a very brave Premier League club who do that first multi-million-pound transfer in the summer with how much hardship is being felt across the county.”
