Jim McInally is concerned next season may need to be put into abeyance because of coronavirus.
With Covid-19 meaning it could be next year before fans are allowed to return to football grounds the Peterhead boss believes next season’s lower leagues may need to be suspended otherwise clubs won’t survive.
For sides like the Blue Toon in Leagues One and Two playing games behind closed doors appears to have a non-starter with gate money and hospitality income vital key revenue sources.
McInally, Scotland’s longest serving manager, said: “I don’t know what the way ahead is, but do you give it a miss for a season?
“If there are no fans allowed to come to the games then what’s the point of it?
“We’re at a point now where the primary concern has to be club survival first and foremost and most clubs won’t survive playing behind closed doors.
“If it’s easier for the clubs to survive by going into abeyance for a season then that’s what we might need to do.
“Somewhere along the line if that were to happen they would need help from the government because football clubs are still businesses would still have things like rates to pay.
“There will need to be help for clubs from the government, or somewhere, either way because if it’s behind closed doors games that doesn’t bring in any revenue for lower league clubs, so how do you pay wages and bills playing behind closed doors?
“Ultimately football is nothing without supporters, how can you play people when there’s nobody coming to watch? You’d have to have amateur teams.
“The Premiership clubs might manage to play behind closed doors because of the TV revenue, but for the lower leagues it’s a non-starter and I think playing behind closed doors might be a struggle for Championship clubs as well.
“That’s the big issue, the survival of clubs, and I don’t know if everybody keeps thinking if they talk about other things then that issue will go away.”
Today clubs are set to vote on whether to hold a second independent investigation into the SPFL and McInally says the current infighting is something Scottish football could do without.
He added: “In 40 years in football the infighting and squabbling going on currently is the worst I’ve seen.
“Nobody saw this coming and we’ve never dealt with anything like this before.
“I don’t think there is a way to deal with it yet, so there’s no right and wrong way to deal with it, but I think it should have united Scottish football at least to some extent.
“The reality is are we going to have to wait until there is a vaccine before football starts again, or at least until crowds are allowed to come to games?
“Is that not what we need to be talking about right now.”
