Gordon Taylor, the Professional Footballers’ Association [PFA] chief executive, has issued a bold warning by insisting that there is an existential threat to some clubs as a result of the current stoppage to the season because of the coronavirus crisis.

Football right across England, as well as most of Europe, has been forced to come to a halt in recent weeks because of the severity of the pandemic, with match action not expected to resume any time soon.

As a result of that, clubs, particularly at the lower end of the English football pyramid, are poised to suffer in a financial sense with lost revenue from matchday income.

Now, Taylor has suggested that clubs, including Leeds United, have got to have tighter control over their income and expenditure during the crisis.

Speaking to beIN Sport’s Keys and Gray show, the former Bolton Wanderers man explained: “You can't guarantee anything in such a climate like this, in a world where every country is suffering and dealing with a virus they've never known before.

"When you get a situation like this then the whole game can blow up like a balloon being pricked. We do have a record number of full-time clubs, it is becoming more difficult - in spite of the fact that, before this epidemic, clubs have never had more money - it's about management of money.

"There's got to be a tighter control of income and expenditure and the management of clubs, otherwise we are painting a false picture.

"All I can say is that players will play their part in achieving this objective (of keeping clubs afloat), I can assure you of that.

"We want players to be around the table with their clubs, with their managers, with their chief execs, with their directors of finance, and to be fully in the picture and to agree between them - rather than be dictated to.

"It's not as though football is a job for life, and if we can save their income, then we will do. But if the situation does become worse, then they will agree that they are part of a solution to overcome that."

Follow Leeds United on LeedsLive





Taylor has also reiterated the importance of the 2019/20 season being brought to a conclusion.

"This is the 19-20 season, we have the rest of 2020 to deliver the season," he added.

"These are special and unique times. We've managed to get football through two world wars...having survived that, the least we can do is to hang on to the idea that we can get through this season."