Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury Town boss Sam Ricketts: Why put clubs in peril?

Sam Ricketts has hit out at overspending lower league owners for leaving their football clubs in perilous positions.

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The coronavirus pandemic has left many clubs in Britain fearing for their futures with revenue steams grinding to a halt.

Chief executive Brian Caldwell has been open about how Covid-19 has hit Shrewsbury financially. He estimates Town to have already lost £200,000 in income and, should no fans be permitted in Montgomery Waters Meadow until 2021, that could rise to £2million.

Town have utilised the government’s job retention furlough scheme, with players and most staff having wages topped up since the lockdown, but other clubs are feeling the pinch even more.

A salary cap in the lower leagues has been suggested to help clubs recover, but Ricketts is adamant those that run clubs should take more responsibility and caution.

“Believe it or not, and this is what I don’t understand, I think a salary cap will happen and, wrongly, it needs to happen,” Ricketts said.

“Quite rightly so, the chairman has been lauded recently for how he’s run the club and instances like this (pandemic) and what happened with Bury, people start to notice he’s done a good job.

“It baffles me that you need to introduce a salary cap for clubs to only spend what they can afford to.”

Just 23 clubs competed in League One in the 2019/20 season after Bury were expelled from the EFL due to unpaid debts, while league rivals Bolton were saved at the 11th hour.

Former Wrexham boss Ricketts insists it is high time owners stopped putting their clubs in ‘jeopardy’.

He added: “It baffles me that people who run the clubs overspend and overspend and overspend to put the club in jeopardy.

“For the life of me I don’t understand chairman, owners or CEOs need to be told to spend what they bring in.

“Surely that’s just logic.”

Salary cap proposals have been suggested in meetings, which would give League One sides a £2.5m ceiling, and £1.25m in the division below.

There is also a suggestion that clubs could be limited to 20 senior professionals, including eight homegrown players.

Shrewsbury chief Caldwell has also spoken of the financial perils of playing the current season to a conclusion, citing ‘financial suicide’.

League rivals Peterborough, who want to play on as the EFL’s points-per-game framework leaves them outside the play-offs, have given up on the hope of the season continuing after canvassing clubs’ voting intentions.