League One and League Two clubs have agreed to open their books to provide evidence of the financial ruin the coronavirus crisis may cause in order to find a breakthrough in the talks with the players’ union over wages.
Clubs have been asked by the Professional Footballers’ Association to supply confidential information to independent accountants to show the scale of pay cuts potentially required. The PFA has advised its members to take deferrals if clubs are struggling financially but this offers a route to more drastic measures.
Many clubs are worried about their short-term futures without match-day income, with League One and Two executives airing their concerns in separate conference calls on Tuesday. The EFL and PFA recommended that players in Leagues One and Two agree a wage deferral of up to 25% for April but, beyond that, clubs are yet to find a resolution.
The PFA acknowledges that any agreement is likely to be on a month-by-month basis. Some clubs, including Sunderland, have furloughed playing staff and others have agreed deferrals. Players worried about pay cuts have been encouraged by the PFA to seek its advice before accepting any deal. Last week the EFL said it held constructive talks with the PFA but some clubs are irked that the union appears disbelieving of the seriousness of the financial strain.
The EFL previously requested cashflow predictions until June from clubs but has since asked for data until September. There are also concerns at board level over the ambiguity of deferrals, particularly in regard to whether payment is delayed until a certain date or conditional on revenue streams returning to normal.
The majority of League One and Two clubs remain determined to complete the season and continue to work on the basis of resuming training on 16 May with a return to matches, most likely behind closed doors, on 6 June, provisional dates put forward by the EFL.
Clubs discussed the possibility of relaxing the summer transfer window, a matter raised with the EFL chairman, Rick Parry, by the Portsmouth chief executive, Mark Catlin. Some clubs are open to permanently scrapping the window to ease cashflow but acknowledge that would require ratification by Fifa.
