LONDON: More than 10 English Football League and National League clubs could go bust after the return of fans in those divisions was scrapped, a leading football finance expert has warned.
Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in the subject at the University of Liverpool, recently published data which showed that every club in the Championship and excluding two in the Premier League would have made operating losses in the season before last had they been deprived of match-day income.
Even before the coronavirus crisis struck, Charlton, Wigan, Oldham and Southend have all previously been identified as being at risk of going to the wall, while Gillingham chairman Paul Scally on Tuesday warned his own club could do so by Christmas if supporters remained locked out of grounds.
As Maguire told UK’s The Daily Telegraph: “What we are facing at present is a far greater hit to the professional sport sector. How can clubs in the National League survive if they can’t play matches in front of a paying audience when 60 per cent or more of their money comes through the turnstiles?”.
