Leyton Orient Chief Executive Danny Macklin has said it is crucial this football season will finish and that the FA could face numerous lawsuits if the campaign is declared null and void.
Macklin also said the health of those involved with the day-to-day running of his own football club and those up and down the country must be put before football.
He spoke exclusively to the Hackney Post after professional matches across the country were suspended until 4 April due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The English Football League (EFL) are due to meet this week to discuss whether further action is necessary and, even in the case of further postponements, Macklin believes that the 2019-20 campaign must be completed. “I think it’s absolutely essential, if it’s health-wise safe to do so, that the competitions finish, the leagues have to finish,” he said.
“It would be a tragedy if clubs go down that won’t have a chance to have got out [of the relegation zone] and vice versa for promotion – you’ve got to earn that over a period of a season, not a slightly shorter season. I think that’s absolutely critical.”
Should the EFL opt not to complete full league seasons in the Championship, League One and League Two, Macklin predicts legal challenges coming their way. He said: “At the moment, I can’t see how that can be a viable solution without some serious lawsuits over that and the tragedy that would be seen as Liverpool not winning the league.
“I can see so many lawsuits that would take place. The season being null and voided gives teams that have been poor through the season a chance to go again and that probably doesn’t sit too comfortably.”
However, Macklin admitted there is a slim chance of being able to play the full season by the summer in light of the increasing number of cases across the country. However, it is looking increasingly likely that the Premier League and EFL will be able to finish matches in June and July, following the news that this summer’s European Championships were postponed until 2021 on Tuesday.
In the meantime, the former Southend United Commercial Director sees playing matches behind closed doors as a potential solution. “Hopefully there will be a way games can be played, even if it’s behind closed doors,” he said. “But first and foremost, all that matters is the health and wellbeing of everyone connected with football clubs.”
How Has Covid Hit Leyton Orient?
Macklin, who joined Orient in 2017, also opened up about the situation at the club. “First of all, we made the difficult but in some ways easy decision of closing the offices at the Breyer Group Stadium as of last night,” he said.
“Staff have gone in today to collect stuff, that will obviously be for the foreseeable [future] for the health and wellbeing of our staff and our families.”
Until the season resumes, Orient are ensuring that their players remain fit and Macklin predicts high attendances across the country once football can resume, whenever that may be. “We are making sure players’ fitness is kept to the best level possible in these circumstances,” he said.
“Once we’re able to get football up and running, I think every stadium up and down the land will be packed to the rafters because we’ll be craving football – we already are, a few days in.”
