Watching Newcastle beat Burnley in an empty stadium at gone 9.30pm on a Saturday night is ... sub-optimal / grim / horrible / unusual / the new normal (and I don't mean the result).

What DOES the pandemic mean for the future of English football?

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For Premier League clubs, the COVID-19 crisis means income deduction of about £800m collectively, but probably more, from match-day and related operations in 2020-21, if no fans attend games. Plus hundreds of millions more in TV rebates. Bad. But manageable.

In March / April, I forecast the summer 2020 transfer window for PL clubs would be barren, tumbleweed, patchy. Akin to the national mood of anxiety. ie: cautious, afraid, newly aware of life's priorities.

I was, not for the first time, SPECTACULARLY wrong.

Which means by Monday night, despite the pandemic and super-cautious approach to economy, Premier League clubs will collectively have spent perhaps the third-most money of ANY window ever for a single division, beating the £1.2bn of summer 2018.

As things stand ... Premier League single-window gross transfer spending record years

But. Back to the case in hand. Covid-19 and potential damage to English football. Have spent much of the past 10 days talking to / surveying 72 EFL clubs about how they will *actually* cope with no fans, or not, and who they think should *really* help them.

Some key findings speaking to EFL clubs: almost unanimously they feel that the Government should help them recoup match-day losses due to no fans (and NOT the Premier League), because it's the Government that is preventing fans in grounds.

Yes, most EFL clubs would be delighted with financial assistance from the Premier League. And many clubs think the PL can afford it. But there is also a general acknowledgement among EFL clubs that PL clubs are taking a big hit due to Covid too.

Speaking to EFL clubs over the past few weeks also highlights their absolutely massive contribution to local communities and the economy, from 15,000 jobs and £500m to the taxman each year to £5m-£10m to local businesses per club on match days each year.

The Premier League is willing and able to help the EFL, but equally, at a time when Boris Johnson's Govt is going to allow the Royal Albert Hall to function indoors but not football clubs outdoors, there is a reluctance to take certain politicians seriously.

Other conclusions from football's Covid crisis and our survey of those clubs ....

1) The existential threat to some football clubs is real. But it's limited to quite a small number of League One and League Two clubs, and it really is fairly easily avoidable.

2) There is a HUGE amount of financial hurt being borne across the EFL this season. The biggest clubs in absolute terms are bearing the brunt; but they are (mostly) Championship clubs, of which 10 have billionaire owners and 18/24 have net wealth of £100m+.

3) From speaking to EFL clubs, PL clubs, Govt & stakeholders this past fortnight, I'm reasonably confident that - after lots of twists and turns - the "football family" and Govt will largely negate the risk of many League clubs going bust solely cos of Covid.

4) Some pieces that explore all the above. With @draper_rob: https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-8802231/Premier-League-chiefs-make-new-plea-government-safe-return-fans.html

And with @TheSharpeEnd: https://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-8802275/Majority-EFL-clubs-believe-government-help-avoid-financial-crisis.html