Thomas fears potential 'nightmare' of expiring contracts as Cobblers seek 'clarity' from EFL and PFA

The 2019-20 campaign, currently on hold due to coronavirus, seems likely to be played in the summer and finish beyond June 30, a date when many player contracts are due to expire all across the country.

The PFA, EFL and Premier League have been in constant discussions this week but so far no solutions have been forthcoming.

The Cobblers have 12 first-team players out of contract this summer.

"We all have a collective, standardised contract within the league but one of the biggest problems is that all of the contracts are individually negotiated," explained Thomas.

"So we would have different individual terms to another football club, say a Stevenage or a Salford City or a Manchester United.

"Clubs also have different opinions so what the authorities are trying to get a collective position on the contracts and see if there's something we can do once we know more about when the season is going to potentially finish.

"We can then all sign up to that collective view because it could become an issue if clubs all are doing different things and some were releasing players while others were not and that could cause a few nightmares.

"So the higher level conversations are taking place this week and hopefully I think we'll have a bit more clarity next week with regards to the position on that.

"But even that might be ambitious because the information might not be available for that, but there might be some behind-the-scenes plans ready to go if certain eventualities happen."

Cobblers chief executive James Whiting believes the authorities might need to get radical to find a solution.

"We're in unprecedented times and it's going to take some unprecedented solutions to achieve that if the season does, as we think, go beyond the end of June," he said.

"Normally, the players that you're signing or extending contracts, start on July 1 when they come back in for pre-season but that's moved and so has the start of the season.

"Everybody wants to complete the season and you'd include the players in that as well so we need a common sense approach from all parties around the table and I'm sure we can come up with a solution."