Legal threat to any move to end season early for Blackpool, Fleetwood Town and rest of League One

If follows a report in The Times yesterday stating a growing number League One and Two chairmen were coming around to the idea of ending the season now.

The EFL have written to all their member clubs proposing to complete the fixtures in an eight-week period over the summer, with matches likely to be played behind closed doors due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

However, some clubs are concerned about the financial impact of staging matches without supporters and The Times report says: “One suggestion is that the tables for League One and Two be decided on points per game, with a play-off tournament for those in third to sixth position (or fourth to seventh in League Two) to settle the final promotion place.”

This solution is reportedly favoured by some League One and Two clubs, though would be opposed by clubs like Peterborough and Sunderland, who would find themselves outside the play-off zone.

Posh chairman MacAnthony tweeted: “I just got a call from our CEO who was in on EFL L1 meeting today.

“Football will be back and seasons will get finished or owners who refuse to fulfil fixtures will be getting sued.”

The EFL’s proposed eight-week window for matches would cause another problem by extending the season beyond the end of June, when many players’ contracts expire.

Peterborough’s MacAnthony does not see this as an issue, adding: “Majority of out-of-contract players get paid July wages by the club they were contracted to previously, so not sure what the big deal is about rolling them for a month etc...

“This ‘all our players are out of contract’ stuff is more noise. It can be sorted with quick fix.”