EFL recommends 25 per cent wage deferral for Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City players

The two bodies have also agreed to form a working group including six captains or union delegates from the League One and Two clubs to try to find solutions before this month’s wages are due.

The stand-off between the clubs and the Professional Footballers' Association, which represents footballers across the country, has been causing economic and political difficulties, and a resolution is needed soon.

Many clubs, particularly those lower down the pyramid, are struggling to pay their bills with the suspension of matches due to coronavirus depriving them of most of their income streams.

Doncaster Rovers are one of the clubs to have furloughed players but many are still struggling to reach agreements.

Initially the hopes was for a collective agreement across all four divisions, but this has proved unachievable. The Premier League recommended its clubs negotiate a 30 per cent deferral, but after a week-and-a-half of talks, so far only Southampton and West Ham United have come to agreements.

Football League clubs are now being encouraged to seek agreements at local level and while the working group is not intended as a negotiating body, it will keep players abreast of developments elsewhere.

“Dialogue with the working group will enable the League both to listen to the concerns of players and to explain the extent of the financial challenges,” read a joint statement from the League and the PFA. “It will focus not just on the short term (May and June) but will address the medium-term position from the start of July onwards and into next season.”


In the short-term, though, the focus will be on April.

Conditions attached to the 25 per cent recommendation are that those earning less than £2,500 per month will be paid in full, and that no player's earnings should be taken below that mark.

Rotherham United and Doncaster are Yorkshire's only League One representatives, with Bradford City playing in League Two.

Championship clubs are also negotiating at a local level, making financial information available to support their position.

English league football has been suspended indefinitely, and setting a date for the resumption is impossible until the Government is able to provide clear guidance.