Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, has called for the Football League to curb the current spending habits of top clubs in order to reduce the chances of debt.

Clubs all over the country, in the top and bottom leagues, are struggling financially and the situation has meant that many teams have gone into administration and been docked points.

Whelan is among the group that want the Football League to step in at an earlier stage and penalise clubs when they are clearly spending money that they do not have. This will reduce the risk of massive debts and point deductions.

He said: “I sent a letter to the Premier League, saying, ‘Can we have an agreement that we can only borrow 25 per cent of our individual club’s turnover?’ There should be a limit on borrowings — not as a set amount, but as a percentage of turnover. They have to do something about it.”

“What has gone on at Portsmouth United is a crying shame for football and for their loyal band of supporters. It just comes down to desperation to stay in the Premier League.”

“Some of the salaries I’ve read about — whether the figures are accurate or not — make you cringe. It’s not easy for clubs, but the ones that take the risks sometimes come a cropper.”

Needless to say but a salary cap would probably bring with it a tremendous amount of opposition from players and clubs alike. This move could see the best players left in the Premier League leave for the shores of Spain and the rest of Europe.

Add to this the fact that tax restricitions in other European countries are more relaxed and the chance to move could become very appealing to many players.

Too many clubs are on the verge of ruin and stand the chance of being run completely out of business. This would mean that their club and league position would become void. This would generate a whole host of problems for league organisers and it would reduce the quality of English leagues over the long run.

The simple solution is for a club to work out the budget they need and to stick to it. This budget should be used to keep the club in the black, any spending that would take the club into the red needs to be blocked by the football leagues.

Whelan is an experienced person in the game who just does not want to see clubs he admires go under. Portsmouth are one of the biggest and most traditional clubs in the country but they stand the chance of being dissolved. At current, Pompey have had more owners than centre forwards this season.

Limits will stop accumulating debts and this will keep more clubs afloat. This may annoy the big clubs but it is something that is going to happen at some point soon down the line whether they like it or not.