An insolvency expert has claimed it’s near-inevitable that some Scottish clubs won’t survive the financial impact of the global health crisis, as quoted by the Scottish Herald.
There has been no football in Scotland since mid-March, with Rangers vs Bayer Leverkusen the last fixture to take place before the sport was suspended indefinitely.
As yet, not even a vague plan has been set for a return to action, with an SPFL ballot already bringing the current Championship, League One and League Two seasons to an end.
Ken Patullo, of Corporate Rescue and Recovery specialists, Begbies Traynor, says the longer the wait for fixtures to restart and for fans to return to stadia, the more likely it is that multiple clubs will fold.
“Finances are already stretched and every match that isn’t played means income from matchday ticket sales and hospitality is lost,” he said, as quoted by the Scottish Herald. “With several matches that were still left to play across all Scottish leagues, that represents hundreds of thousands of pounds of lost income, which clubs operating on small budgets can ill afford to lose.”
“It’s the mid-size clubs without wealthy backers or lucrative television or sponsorship deals that are in the most perilous position. Unfortunately, the double whammy of significant wage bills and sizeable fan bases that make them heavily reliant on match-day gate receipts could prove fatal in this unprecedented situation.
“While I don’t believe we are looking at a doomsday scenario and most Scottish clubs will survive, I’m afraid that some insolvencies are probably inevitable among the hardest hit clubs.”
Verdict
It has been clear for some time now that the global health crisis was going to have a profound impact upon the Scottish game.
A panel was chosen to draft up plans for league reconstruction in an effort to ensure clubs were not unfairly relegated and therefore financially punished amid these unprecedented times.
Yet, when those talks broke down over the weekend, Partick Thistle and Stranraer suffered exactly that fate, with Hearts likely to follow.
Financial pressures are exacerbated by the lack of ability to plan in advance. As yet, no one even has a rough idea about when fixtures will be able to return here.
The Bundesliga recommences in a matter of days, while the Premier League and La Liga are targeting June restarts. But as Patullo points out, it’s ticket money the clubs are in desperate need of and until a vaccine is readily available, it’s hard to see how turnstiles can reopen.
