'Wake-up call for clubs' - ex-Wigan Athletic supremo

A number of clubs in the EFL have been plunged into trouble with the season having been postponed, with several having taken advantage of the government’s furlough scheme.

And Sharpe feels the way some clubs have been gambling with the future in the pursuit of success needed this ‘wake-up call’.

“It was in a bad state regardless,” Sharpe said. “Maybe this is the wake-up call they all need.

“The state of each club’s losses were growing and growing.

“I’ve just seen Blackburn’s losses were £18m for last season. Now, there was no coronavirus last season, so we can’t all of a sudden be blaming a virus that’s stopped football for a month as the reason why Championship clubs are now under pressure to survive.”

Sharpe also knows where the main issue is on the balance sheets.

“It’s the wages,” Sharpe, whose family relinquished control of Latics to International Entertainment Corporation at the end of 2018, told MSN.

“If you don’t try to compete with them, then ultimately you’ll have a terrible team on the pitch because you’ve got the lowest wage bill and you’re trying to run the club sensibly.

"You’ll just go down with a whimper. For us there was only one solution – and that was getting out.”