David Artell says that the mere survival of football clubs has to be at the forefront of any decision-making made between the EFL and its members. The Crewe Alexandra boss believes that football should not return unless it is 100% safe for players, officials and staff members and he says the number one target needs to be survival going forward.

Football has been placed on hold since lockdown was introduced back in March and the Crewe boss has always expressed a desire to complete the season to protect the integrity of competition - but that looks less likely now with financial implications too much for the majority of League One and League Two clubs, especially with no supporter attendance at stadiums.  

The Crewe boss told us via video link: “The Premier League will lead, then the EFL and the Championship clubs. They may have the resources necessary to complete the season. For League One and League I am not sure that is the case.

“The most important thing for me, is that if we are to return that it is totally safe to do so and then it is about making sure clubs survive. We want clubs to survive and for the football pyramid to stay intact.

“Football is like any other business when the revenue streams are not there. It is tough times for a lot of people.

“Despite all the government assistance with the job retention scheme and the EFL helping by forwarding central funds, clubs may still go out of business. That is the worst case scenario and I think we should all be working towards making sure that doesn’t happen because no-one wants to see what happened to Bury last season.”