Brian Caldwell reckons any plan to bring a premature halt to the SPFL season won’t help clubs already on a path towards financial disaster.
The ex-St Mirren chief executive is coping with the coronavirus impact in the same role with Shrewsbury and issued a warning ahead of today’s Scottish club summit.
A number of proposals will be discussed throughout the four leagues but Caldwell believes any move to end the campaign is laced with financial danger. He said: “What this crisis has brought home is just how many clubs operate on a hand-to-mouth existence.
“Even top-flight clubs can’t cope with a sustained period of having no income. If you look at St Mirren, if they have five home games left this season it’s roughly £150,000 revenue.
“It’s about £25,000 to £30,000 net profit after costs for a typical game against the likes of Kilmarnock or St Johnstone.
“That’s a lot of money to lose so I can see Scottish football becoming the survival of the fittest and some clubs will need to be bankrolled by owners and chairmen to get through to the other side of this. HMRC have given clubs time to pay but some just won’t have money to pay wages even though the furlough system’s helping.
“One of the biggest issues I see arising is if there is a decision taken to null and void the season or calling it early. What would stop the broadcasters to come in and ask for some of their money back?
“The danger is they will say they have put X amount into SPFL football every year and now they are short of a large amount of games.
“They would be entitled to ask that question and find out what the SPFL intend to do about it. The same applies to sponsors.
“It’s a massive dilemma which clubs need to weigh up and it doesn’t appear to me to be something which can be sorted out quickly.”
