Fleetwood chairman Andy Pilley says government has role to play in rescuing football

The controversial ‘Project Big Picture’ proposals tabled by Liverpool and Manchester United were this week rejected by Premier League clubs, who instead approved a £50m cash injection for Leagues One and Two.

Town owner Pilley spoke passionately in favour of the Liverpool/United scheme, which offered a £250m cash bail-out for the EFL and a share of future TV income, and after the Premier League decision he tweeted: “Looks like Project Big Picture has focused some minds and hopefully brought about a much-needed rescue package offer.”

The Fleetwood chief always felt that Project Big Picture would be only the starting point in negotiations and he believes that government still needs to get involved to address a perilous situation for many clubs.

Pilley told Sky Sports News: “The whole situation has been dealt with like a hot potato in my opinion. The government has passed this to the Premier League, to the Department of Culture Media and Sport, and nobody has come up with a solution whatsoever,

“And we are in great danger of losing community assets in every town and city in the country that create enormous good feeling and quality of life. I think government should be part of the conversation to create a solution.”

Pilley insists the game’s financial crisis cannot be solved while stadiums remain empty.

Asked what monthly losses his club is having to withstand, Pilley answered: “We are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds. We can’t go on like this forever. We have no revenue streams and no supporters being allowed in grounds.

“Despite the general public being allowed into so many other venues and events, football clubs – for whatever reasons I can’t understand – aren’t allowed to have people socially distanced and we’re dying here. We need something to happen.”