League One and Two club owners want season ended by 31st July at the latest

Mansfield Town owner John Radford has stated the desires of League One and Two clubs in a letter to the EFL.Mansfield Town owner John Radford has stated the desires of League One and Two clubs in a letter to the EFL.
Mansfield Town owner John Radford has stated the desires of League One and Two clubs in a letter to the EFL. | JPIMedia Resell
Mansfield Town owner John Radford wants to see the League Two season completed by the end of July.

Mr Radford confirmed his desire in a letter sent to EFL chairman Rick Parry, and released to Chad, following a series of meetings with fellow League One and Two club owners.

The owners met to discuss their concerns over the issues raised by the Covid-19 fall-out, with Mr Radford chairing the meetings.

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The letter confirmed four common issues had arisen with the season completion date sparking the most discussion.

The letter read: “This is a controversial subject, but whilst the clubs are committed to the integrity of the competition, they do not want to be playing at a financial loss particularly as it now seems certain that any games will be in closed stadiums.

“It is also accepted that setting a deadline now when so much is uncertain may not be possible.

“The clubs are also unsure what would be the ramifications of the season not being completed on the many commercial deals which the EFL has and as regards solidarity.

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“We would however hope that early discussions by the EFL with all of those parties knowing that the clubs do not wish the season to go beyond 30 July 2020 would assist.

“What there was clear agreement on is that no club wishes to be at a financial disadvantage as a result of setting a deadline for the season close.

“What we want to try and achieve is as much certainty as possible.”

Club owners also confirmed they are committed to introducing a wage cap for the new season amid fears that revenues could drop by as much as 50 per cent.

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They also made it clear that players should receive no additional payments for completing the season.

“The clubs want to urgently look with the EFL into creative ways of setting the wage cap which guarantees the long term future of football for all EFL clubs,” the letter added.

“We understand that as drafted some players’ contracts will expire at the end of June but for the integrity of the competition and bearing in mind that payments continue until the end of July we would expect players to continue playing without contract extensions or further payments.”

Clubs also revealed that they would hold individual negotiations with players around salary and deferral/reduction for the best interests of each club.

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