WARNING OVER LEAGUE TWO SEASON
GRIMSBY Town chairman Philip Day has warned the EFL that League Two clubs could be forced to suspend the season if they are required to undertake regular coronavirus testing.
EFL sides are not currently required to undertake mandatory coronavirus tests on players and staff - a factor which played a big part in League One and League
Two being curtailed last season amid the Covid-19 pandemic. But with the number of cases rising once again across the country, there is great uncertainty about the future of the 2020/21 season, especially after Leyton Orient’s Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham was called off after the majority of the O’s first team squad tested positive for the virus.
Lower league clubs have already been hit hard financially by the news that fans will not be
allowed back into stadiums next month, and Mr Day believes the introduction of mandatory testing on top of that could lead to a premature end to the campaign. Speaking about some of the measures the Mariners have taken to safeguard themselves, Mr Day told the BBC: “The players have gone back on full pay now that they’re back training. “With new players, we did get a reduction for a period of time with their contracts, and we’ve also got what we call Covid-19
clauses in new players’ contracts. Again being a responsible club, we had to plan for the second wave coming along.
“It may still be, for example, if we’re required to do testing at a cost of about £7,000 a week for this club, I’m sure League Two clubs are going to be saying ‘we can’t bear this, we’re going to have to close down again.’ If we do, at least we have got some Covid-19 clauses in contracts. “But there is a real problem if we have to close down again.”