Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett's cataclysmic fears for the future of English football

And the Pompey boss feels clubs can’t overlook the fight to save a proud English institution in favour of self-interest.

Jackett has grave concerns over clubs surviving the Covid-19 pandemic without going bust.

That fear centres on the the likelihood of fans not being able to attend games for an extended period and the financial knock-on effect of that move.

Jackett wants to see every measure taken to keep the structure of not just the Premier League and EFL intact, but each rung of the ladder outside the professional game, too.

He said: ‘The difficult thing is every single club is an individual business.

‘We would want to come out of this with all clubs intact, or as many clubs as possible intact to look after our football pyramid.

‘We’re proud to have that in this country.

‘We may have to suspend it for a little while but when it does come back we would want it to come back strongly.

‘Clubs will be looking for help, definitely, but can they continue to open up and operate without crowds coming in?

‘To then start fulfilling fixtures and things like travel going forward into next season, there’s a lot of questions and not as many answers at the moment.

‘It’s a fantastic system and we would want that in place, but it does look like that is under threat now financially.

‘The landscape is going to be different financially. It will be tough for a lot of clubs, there’s no doubt about that.’

Jackett accepted every clubs’ priority will be to themselves with the outlook so bleak for the game - and Pompey are no different.

But, with issues like Premier League aid for lower-league clubs being suggested, there has to be a consideration for the greater good of the game, too.

Jackett added: ‘We hope to look after ourselves and stay strong, because that’s our job.

‘But after that we want the whole football pyramid to survive if we can.

‘There has to be an overlap of those two areas, if you like.

‘It’s a fantastic pyramid with effectively five leagues of full-time training now.

‘With no clear plan going forward at present for fans to come back it’s very difficult for these clubs.’