Scottish football finds itself in an unprecedented situation as the coronavirus shutdown approaches the two week mark.
Even during World War II there was a wartime championship but clubs currently face being without gate receipts for an indefinite period of time.
Football may not return until September, and there are real questions over how many clubs can survive for that long.
Here's how the 12 Premiership clubs are set in these uncertain times.
Aberdeen
Chairman Dave Cormack is currently looking for new investment because he has warned his club could lose £5million to £6m in revenues.
The Dons are in one of the better financial positions of club’s in the Premiership as they have £1.5 million in the bank.
The problem is that in recent seasons they have now pushed their wage bill up to one of the highest outside of Celtic and Rangers and are looking at losing around £1.2 million-a-month.
Cormack, speaking earlier in the week, said: “What we do know is that we are facing a collapse of income that is going to be almost impossible to sustain for a prolonged period.
“Three weeks ago we were in a healthy financial position; free of external debt, with £1.5million in the bank.
“We had expected income of about £1million from four home league games and the Scottish Cup Semi-Final and, potentially, £5million in season ticket sales, seasonal hospitality and new shirt sales coming in through mid-July.
“Our monthly running costs are about £1.2million and it’s only prudent to assume that, realistically, there will be no football until July perhaps, at the earliest.
“During this period, we are therefore facing £5million in outgoings with no expected income.
“No matches are planned and we have no idea when a new season starts, never mind the current season ending, and it is highly unlikely there will be any player sales in the summer.
“This situation is clearly unsustainable. No club, whatever their size, scale or level of investment, can withstand a total lack of income over a period of anything between three to six months.”
Celtic
The champions are in a more robust financial position than any other Scottish club given the size of their bank balance which was topping the £30m mark earlier this season.
But that does not make them immune from the potentially catastrophic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. They may have bigger reserves than the rest but they are also facing the fastest cash burn of any side in Scotland because of the enormous size of their £60m wage bill.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the maths here. Celtic should have enough money stashed away to cover six months without reopening the turnstiles which puts them in a safe place for the time being.
But there are obvious concerns over the damage this will do to the club’s balance sheet the longer football is forced to lock its doors.
In order to keep income ticking over season tickets for 2020/21 were recently put on early sale but it’s understood, after a strong start, the numbers have been drying up as the current Covid-19 crisis deepens.
The bottom line is that Celtic should be able to get through it comfortably so long as predictions that the Scottish game will be up and running again by August are accurate. These are extremely challenging times even for the richest club in the county.
Hamilton
Vice-chairman Les Gray: “It’s not great for any of the clubs at the moment but as a club we are relatively well insulated from what’s an ongoing and uncertain situation.
“Nobody wants to be in this situation but we just need to accept the reality of it and cope as best we can. All of Scottish football has been impacted to different degrees but we are all feeling it.
"As a club we have been prudent and cut our cloth accordingly over the years and that remains the case.
"We have a small home crowd so for clubs like Hamilton and others, the loss of revenue will amount to the loss of the walk-up fan for a match day.
"Our perspective is that although the situation is far from great, it’s also certainly far from terminal.
"There are absolutely no plans to alter the arrangements we have with staff. The one thing that Ronnie MacDonald has instilled in all of us is that you pay the wages.
"He has other businesses and that’s something he would never compromise on.
"At Hamilton we will always honour the contracts and this occasion will be no different, honouring every contract is what we will do."
Daniel Stendel would love all of his Hearts players to follow Steven Naismith’s example and accept a 50 per cent wage cut, but those who feel they can’t shouldn’t be hounded for it.
With no income due in for the foreseeable future, Ann Budge asked all full-time staff to slash their wages by half in order for the club to get through the coronavirus shutdown.
Aberdeen are also facing a mammoth task to balance the books, with owner Dave Cormack confirming they face a shortfall of £5million with no cash coming into the club.
Hearts
Daniel Stendel would love all of his Hearts players to follow Stendel Naismith ’s example and accept a 50 per cent wage cut, but those who feel they can’t shouldn’t be hounded for it.
With no income due in for the foreseeable future, Ann Budge asked all full-time staff to slash their wages by half in order for the club to get through the coronavirus shutdown.
Stendel has offered to work for free while skipper Naismith has publicly accepted the wage drop and pledged to remain with Hearts even if they are relegated.
Other members of the squad are consulting with the PFA Scotland and lawyers as they weigh up their options.
It’s also understood Hearts are looking into the offer of Government help to cover 80 per cent of salaries for qualifying staff, which would exclude those earning over £2,500 per month.
“Steven is a good example and it’s a good idea for some players,” said Stendel.
“He is our captain and my experiences of him over the last couple of months have been very positive.
“I’m not surprised about his decision and I hope some other players will do it also.
“But every player needs to decide alone what is best for him. Nobody can decide based on other people saying it’s good or not good. Everybody needs to decide for themselves."
Hibs
Hibs aren’t planning on taking any drastic financial action just yet, but won’t be unaffected by the Scottish football shutdown.
City rivals Hearts moved swiftly and asked all full-time staff to take a 50 per cent pay cut last week in order to keep costs in line with months of lost income set to hit hard.
Hibs currently have no plans to reduce staff salaries or the like, but will continue to monitor the situation in order to plan for the long term benefit of the club.
Aberdeen admitted they will have a £5million hole to fill, and with Hibs next in line behind them and Hearts when it comes to budgets, the costs of running the Easter Road club won’t be insignificant.
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock supremo Billy Bowie insists the Rugby Park club is well placed to ride out the coronavirus crisis in the short term - with no cash flow problems and two millionaire directors.
Together with Phyllis McLeish who earned a windfall when she sold her company QTS two years ago, the businessman is confident Killie have the financial muscle to avoid meltdown.
Supporters have also chipped in with a £50,000 donation from the Killie Trust helping ensure the smooth running of the club throughout the lockdown.
Players and staff are being paid in full although Bowie agrees with Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack that most clubs will struggle to withstand six to eight months of inactivity.
He said: “Kilmarnock FC has no overdraft or bank debt whatsoever.
“We are actually sitting with some money in the coffers at the moment and the players are all getting paid what they are due.
“Cash flow is not a problem for us.
“If this goes on for five or six months, then yes, it could be, but the club has two millionaire directors on its board and we are both here for the long haul. We care about this club.”
Livingston
Livingston have launched an operating fund to bring in some vital cash to the club as the Scottish football shutdown means there’s pressure on every pound.
With fans and sponsors pledging support since the game was plunged into cold storage by the coronavirus pandemic, the Lions have decided to set up a payment process for those willing to contribute to club coffers.
Standing orders starting at £20 per month can be set up to run between April 2020 and May 2021, with all donations made by then accumulated and then allocated back to individuals as shares in the club.
These can then be redeemed against hospitality for a category A match next season in the Ferranti Suite at the Tony Macaroni Arena, against a sponsors table or match ball sponsorship as appropriate.
All money donated will be put directly into the running costs of the West Lothian outfit.
Gary Holt’s side were enjoying a sensational season in the Ladbrokes Premiership before the plug was pulled, sitting fifth and still with an outside chance of European qualification.
Depending on the SPFL’s decision, fifth could still net them around £1.5m in prize money this season.
It would represent Livi’s highest finish since 2000/2001, when they were best of the rest in third and qualified for the next season’s UEFA Cup.
Motherwell
Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows insists the Steelmen are in solid shape to cope with the lockdown crisis.
The Fir Park side are fan owned and have managed to balance the books in recent years on the back of player sales and strong performances in the league and cups.
Burrows is confident the club can ride out the storm but he admitted there could be some tough times ahead if the shutdown goes on long term.
He said: “We’ve managed finances well over the last couple of years.
“In reality for us though, whilst we see ourselves in relatively good shape to get through it, it only takes one or two things to fall for us, for things to get very difficult very quickly.
“That not withstanding, I’m confident in the supporter base, the Well society, and extremely confident in the guys that run the club to help us get through this issue.
“There are a lot of really tough decisions to be made, but at this moment in time, we need to wait for the next week or two to hopefully get clarity from government in terms of what’s going to happen, then really difficult work begins to decide what we’re going to do here in terms of playing out the season or if it is finished, how it is decided.”
Rangers
Rangers announced a drive for up to £20 million of fresh investment in the club at their last agm in November.
And while it’s unclear what effect the worldwide financial downturn will have on this hunt for cash, club insiders claim they are still on course to bring this money in.
Record Sport revealed how wealthy Scottish property funding investor Stuart Gibson was among several new backers, mostly from the Far East, ready to pony up ahead of the pandemic striking.
The Ibrox club have a wage bill in excess of £30 million, second only to Celtic, and in the short to medium term that isn’t an issue provided they bring in the promised investment.
However, in line with the majority of clubs in Europe, if the coronavirus crisis continues beyond six months football is likely to reel even more significantly from the absence of season ticket, competition, commercial and broadcast revenue.
For now, there is no panic - and Rangers are keen to play their part in helping the whole of the Scottish game navigate its way through the toughest period the sport has ever known.
Ross County
Ross County chairman Roy MacGregor has written to all his staff and assured them that he will cover any shortfall in the club’s finances in the short-term.
The oil and gas tycoon is ready to fill the gap from the lack of gate receipts and football revenues over the coming weeks.
However, it has been made clear that this is only for an undefined period and not indefinitely.
It is likely wage cuts and savings will need to be looked at if the shut-down goes into the medium to longer term, ie months rather than weeks.
County, however, are in a better financial position than a lot of clubs as their wage bill is a lot less than many of their Premiership rivals, as a result of cost-cutting measures over the last couple of seasons.
The Staggies don’t have the same overheads as other clubs, as a lot of their hospitality and catering stuff, etc is all out-sourced. That means that there is no loss of revenues to the club due to a lack of match day action.
St Johnstone
St Johnstone are another Premiership club which puts prudence high up the agenda and as a result remain debt free.
For that reason officials at the Perth club are confident they can withstand the financial impact of the COVID-19 campaign closure - for the time being.
Steve Brown has assured non-playing staff that their jobs are safe while Tommy Wright and his squad are not in any danger of facing Hearts-style wage cuts.
Like all clubs the Saints hierarchy are waiting on clarity from the authorities both on a timescale for the resumption of football but also from government on who exactly qualifies for the raft of employee support measures being put in place.
A McDiarmid Park insider said: “We are one of the more fortunate teams in the top flight in that we are well run and have never lived outwith our means.
“We have never overspent, there’s no debt but the longer this rumbles on then the bigger the problem becomes.”
St Mirren
Saints chief Tony Fitzpatrick insists the Paisley side can survive the shutdown without slashing wages.
St Mirren are moving towards fan ownership and keep a tight reign on the finances.
Fitzpatrick insisted there are no immediate plans to ask players to take the hit - and boss Jim Goodwin will be told to crack on with plans for the future.
The clubs legend said: “There is a lot of uncertainty and the club is like any business just now.
“There’s a bit of trepidation but as was mentioned in our statement the other day the club is in a reasonable enough position to deal with this at the moment.
“There are no thoughts of cutting anybody’s wages or making anyone redundant. We don’t know how long this will last so we will continue to monitor the situation as things go on.
“These are difficult times but I also think this is a real chance for us to really reflect on everything at the club.
“The board has been together quite a bit to discuss everything at the club. We have a number of players who are out of contract at the end of the season and we have loan players.
“We’ll obviously honour all those contracts and there are players in there that we would like to offer new contracts to.
“Jim Goodwin will also have had a list of players that will be out of contract that we’d have been looking to sign in the summer and we are constantly discussing that.”
And in the Championship...
Partick Thistle
The Jags were working towards a break-even budget for the season and, boosted by the legacy of Colin Weir, are confident they can deal with the lack of income in the short term.
Thistle invested heavily in the first team in January in a bid to drag themselves clear of the bottom of the table and mount a late play-off push.
That hasn’t materialised with relegation a real danger before the season stopped dead in its tracks.
With the help of the Weirs’ backing the Firhill club recently cleared £1.5m of debt and chief executive Gerry Britton says cash flows are good although the shutdown will cost them an estimated £150,000.
There’s no threat to players or staff wages although the longer the crisis persists then the bigger the problem the club would face.
Britton said: “If it does roll into the new season then there would be serious repercussions for us in a financial sense.
“If there is a continued period of uncertainty then we are the same as any other business and it gets harder and harder to forecast.
“This is unprecedented and you’re not catering in your budget that you’ll go through a period without income coming in.”
