Wigan Athletic legend predicts grim future ahead for EFL clubs

Jewell's place in Latics folklore is assured, as the boss who led them into the Premier League and keeping them up, before walking away in the summer of 2007.

Now director of football at League Two Swindon Town, his priorities are now focused less on success and more about mere survival.

And with football in the UK having been postponed until at least April 30 - and in all probability a further extension on the way after that - Jewell believes some clubs are in real danger of falling by the wayside.

“I’m frightened for the future, 100 per cent," he said.

“For EFL clubs, especially in the bottom two divisions, it’s all about people coming through the gate. The money they ­generate is paramount to us.

“That’s not the case in the Premier League. In the old days, they used to say that supporters paid the players’ wages.

"But at the top level that is no longer the case, with the vast amounts of money from TV and sponsorship.

“But, at our level, it’s ­completely different – we need that money.

"Owners can’t keep on putting their hands into their pockets to pay wages for players and staff with nothing coming in.

"The situation is ­serious. It really is serious at the level we are operating at.

“Many of the players in the lower divisions will be more and more dependent on whether the owners can keep dipping into their pockets.

"It’s like ­working from hand to mouth.

“I can see clubs forced to go into administration through no fault of their own.

"The ­£50million set aside in the week by the EFL will stop the ­bleeding, to a certain extent, but it won’t repair the wound.

“It won’t be able to prevent a cash crisis the longer the ban on football continues.

“We know the Premier League is awash with money and, of course, some of it could be handed down to the EFL, but I can’t see it happening.”

Jewell is also in no doubt as to what should happen when the action eventually resumes.

“In my view, the season has to be played out – no matter how long that takes – for the ­integrity of the competition," he told the Sunday Mirror.

“And it’s not just about the Premier League, which receives most of the attention - there are 72 other clubs to consider.

“You can’t have the Premier League turning around saying that there’s no relegation this ­season.

“Nobody wants to play ­behind closed doors, but, if that’s the fairest way, that has to be the case.”