Winter woe for EFL

CLUBS in League One and Two fear a ‘catastrophic’ winter as soaring energy costs combine with World Cup football on TV to punish them before their finances start to recover from the pandemic.

‘I don’t know how some clubs survived Covid and now there’s another crisis coming,’ Shrewsbury Town’s CEO Brian Caldwell told Sportsmail. ‘Increasing costs are a worry. Our power bill is probably going to double, that’s quite frightening, and the same problems are affecting supporters.

‘What if a football ticket becomes a luxury some can’t afford? When the increased energy costs kick in, it will be October and November, the World Cup will be starting and there will be three or four games a day live on television.

‘Are they still going to watch us three times a month? If they don’t, that would be catastrophic for the clubs in Leagues One and Two where match-day income can represent 40-50 per cent of turnover.’

Power bills at League One Shrewsbury are projected to increase from £80,000-£100,000 a year to £160,000-£200,000 a year and Caldwell suspects the idea of bringing kick-offs forward to midday is not the solution in the EFL.

Early kick- offs will mean more overnight travel when hoteliers are passing on their increased costs.