Owner of Sheffield Wednesday rivals: "60 league clubs could go bust" due to coronavirus crisis

Huddersfield Town chairman Phil Hodgkinson has joined a number of club owners and football finance experts in making clear his concern over football’s future, says the priority of the authority should be on safeguarding the future of the football pyramid.

“If we don't come to an agreement there will be no football pyramid. There are clubs I know of that are only still trading because they are deferring wages and [tax] and other creditors. They will need paying at some point," Hodgkinson said.

“There is an absolutely real, stark probability that if something isn't agreed now within football to ensure all clubs can pay their bills and get through to the point where income is resumed, you will be looking at 50 or 60 clubs ceasing to exist. Genuinely, I am talking about that many.”

The current financial position of Sheffield Wednesday is largely unclear. The last set of accounts released by the club covered the 2017/18 season and Wednesday were one of four clubs in the top two divisions of English football to take advantage of a Government ruling to extend the deadline for the publication of accounts from the end of April to the end of July.

The 2018 accounts suggest some 37 per cent of Wednesday’s income is collected on matchdays. At current, it is understood that the EFL’s Profitability and Sustainability rules would have to be changed or lifted for owner Dejphon Chansiri to release a major injection of funds to cover any shortcomings.

Huddersfield chief Hodgkinson, whose club are three points clear of the relegation zone, questioned the cost of coronavirus testing, which will reportedly cost each club between £150,000 and £200,000 by the season’s end.

A first round of testing took place ahead of Championship clubs’ return to training today, with two Cardiff City players returning positive tests.

“We have been told by the government that there will be no large gatherings until there is a vaccine and that is likely to be in 2021,” Hodgkinson told the BBC, before going on to suggest there should be a discussion with the PFA over a temporary cut of up to 50 per cent in player wages.

“The players are not to blame,” he said. “But the reality is, the players have to be part of the solution because if clubs go bust, their contracts won't get met anyway.

“They may not like me saying this, but [players' union] the PFA need to put in place salary cuts of between 30% and 50% for all players at all levels until such a time as crowds are allowed back into football stadiums and income streams return.

“These are ideas. They may not be the right ones. But something has to be done because everyone knows what is coming and people are just sticking their heads in the sand.”