Regulation tightening required for success says Lawn

It means he has an insight into what clubs in the Championship and League One can expect if some form of wage restrictions are adopted by the Football League.

And, while Lawn applauds the thinking behind the current rules that state all teams in the basement division must spend no more than 55 per cent of turnover on wages, the Bantams chief also believes a tightening of the regulations would be in order if a similar scheme is rolled out across the entire League.

Lawn said: “We have been subject to the salary cap for a few years now and have always operated within the rules. We have been anywhere between 45 and 53 per cent of turnover.

“So, complying has never been a problem for us. I can’t imagine many clubs in League Two being any different. But the system does have loopholes and a club could, if it wanted, get round a salary cap.

“If, for instance, I was a chairman who was also in charge of a large company and wanted to pump money into my club to allow us to pay higher wages then I would simply agree a deal to sponsor the club’s shirts for an inflated fee.

“A deal of, say, £2m would make a huge difference to what a club could pay out to players.

“Personally, I believe the rules could be tightened up. The simple rule should be that you can’t spend what you haven’t got. That is the case in everyday life so why should football be allowed to be any different?”

The basement division first adopted the rules that restrict the amount of money that can be spent on wages by clubs in 2003.

All 24 teams must submit details of their finances throughout a season, meaning League bosses can quickly flag up if any club has strayed beyond the 55 per cent threshold.

This means that action can be taken immediately, unlike sports such as rugby league where points deductions and fines are invariably imposed the following season. Such a system has seen the League veto several proposed transfer deals in the past.

Despite the League being happy with the set-up, a working party was set up last summer to look into any possible changes.

Bradford director David Baldwin said: “A few ideas have been put forward. One possible tweak would be to try and strike a balance between investment and commercial income.

“If, for example, someone wanted to invest a sum of money in a club then 100 per cent of that could be spent on player wages, whereas any commercial income invested in wages would be limited to 50 per cent.

“That way it would encourage investment in football clubs.”