Thomas reiterates need for tighter financial control after being 'shocked' by budgets of League One rivals Birmingham City and Wrexham

The Football Governance Bill, a key piece of legislation designed to improve financial sustainability across the game, was put on pause following the calling of the General Election in May but Thomas hopes it can be quickly reintroduced by the new government.

Birmingham City have reportedly the biggest budget ever seen in the third tier this summer while Rotherham, another side relegated from the Championship, have not been shy in signing players. Those clubs promoted to League One, particularly Wrexham, are also very well backed financially.

Cobblers have increased their own budget this summer to help bridge the gap but Thomas believes more control is needed across the wider game to stop the market from spiralling out of control.

Asked if he's been shocked by the level of finance in League One this summer, Thomas said: "Yes. It's been a year where everything seems to have merged into League One with the teams that came down from the Championship and teams that came up from League Two.

"It's just by chance that it’s all happened this year. Who expected Birmingham to come down with a £20million budget or whatever it is? Wrexham and even Stockport have big budgets.

"We talked at the EFL chairman's conference and there's a big conversation going on regarding football governance and salary caps and what clubs are spending on players. Those conversations are ongoing and hopefully we can make progress on that because we need to have more control.

"There has to be some sort of control over spending otherwise the game will get away. The Championship has always been a little bit crazy but League One is starting to go that way now because the average salaries are going up and it'll go even higher this year."

Prior to last week’s General Election, Thomas met with new Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at Sixfields to discuss the Football Governance Bill.

"I found the conversation with Sir Keir to be pretty positive,” Thomas added. “He understood the issue and Labour have already been positive within the process. They made some good recommendations and I think he's going to get his staff to look at it and improve it, but it won't be rushed through.

"Sir Keir’s words to me were that he wants to make sure that he gets a bill passed which is the right bill and that's the correct approach. It's frustrating because we had almost got it through but I'm confident it will make progress under the new government.”