'Not sure how we get this done' – CEO fears time running out for League One clubs to finish season

A League One chief executive fears contract issues could put paid to clubs' hopes of completing the season

Mark Catlin, the chief executive of promotion-chasing Portsmouth, fears time to complete the League One campaign is fast running out.

Catlin, speaking to the Portsmouth News, raised concerns on Wednesday that clubs will not be able to finish the season by July 31.

That is a key date for clubs because with many players’ contracts running out on June 30, players who become free agents will receive a month of severance pay before they are able to ink a new deal elsewhere.

Catlin says clubs have “always worked on the assumption” that players will continue to play for a month beyond the expiration of their contract through “goodwill”, but the Pompey chief is concerned time constraints could make this impossible.

League One clubs are set to be given five days to submit their vote on how the season – which has been on hold since mid-March due to the coronavirus outbreak – should end following Wednesday’s crunch EFL meeting.

And with up to three weeks of preparation and eight weeks of matches required to complete the third-tier campaign, Catlin fears some clubs will not have enough players to finish their games before the end of July.

“Hopefully we will find out (the result of the vote) next week,” he told the News. “But by that time we will be into June and there are still two to three weeks required to get players back to training – then you have 56 days to complete.

“I am not sure how we then manage to get this done beyond July 31, which I feel has always been the backstop in regards of player contracts.

“You can keep them until June 30 – however, there is then a month’s severance.

“We have always worked on the assumption that, with the goodwill of players, they will carry on during that month because they cannot sign for another club.

“Asking them to stay on for a month is one thing, asking them to go into a new deal beyond July 31 for a limited amount of time when they risk injury is something completely different.

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“I am not talking specifically about Pompey. Speaking generally, take a club who have a player whose contract ends in June, but is willing to play on into July because of the severance pay.

“Asking them to go beyond that could be a problem because they may have already done another deal with another club.

“I think it is a big ask, especially when those players are risking injury.”

Catlin, despite holding out hopes the season will be completed in full with the Hampshire side in the play-off places and in contention for an automatic promotion place, accepts the majority of clubs are now in favour of ending the season immediately and using a points per game calculation to decide the season.

Bristol Rovers are not one of those clubs, and are keen to play the remainder of their games to give boss Ben Garner more time to assess his squad.

But should the majority vote to play the campaign to an end on the pitch, clubs will face a race against time before contract issues throw yet another spanner into the works.