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The Premier League is keen to wrap up the current 2019-20 season by all means necessary, and the league body is making plans for the league to resume next month and end by July.

There have been calls for the Premier League to join the likes of Belgium, France and Holland to end the current season due to the coronavirus pandemic that has halted football and many other activities around the globe.

However, English Football League chief Rick Parry has warned the Premier League they would be forced into the courts if they decide to scrap promotion and relegation because of the amount of money at stake for the clubs.

“The Premier League is aware of our position on that. Lawyers are going to get wealthy [if the Premier League opted not to relegate three teams],” Parry said in front of the government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee.

“There would be a degree of outrage from a number of clubs in the Championship and it would be a breach of the tripartite agreement.”

Parry also explained that it was important for campaigns to be completed before some players’ contracts expired at the end of July, and also acknowledged the financial impact of having no fans at matches.

“Our end date realistically is July 31 because of the situation with contracts. We can’t go beyond July,” he said.

“Players and staff have been furloughed and to expect clubs to bring them back in now, to forgo the furlough, only to then find in a month they can’t play would be a complete mess. We need to be taking decisions within days.

“We have a great deal of uncertainty around next season and the undetermined matter of when we’ll be able to return with crowds, which for the EFL is absolutely critical.

“We’re much more dependent upon the revenue and atmosphere generated by crowds than the Premier League.

“If we were starting behind closed doors it would be finely balanced economically. It’s almost neutral, but for many clubs it would actually cost them to play.”