DAVID MOYES says the Premier League has a duty to stop the rest of football going under.
West Ham’s manager believes the sport needs to ‘reset’ once the coronavirus crisis is over.
League Two sides have held emergency talks this week, as they face financial oblivion with cash flow at a standstill.
Ex-Preston boss Moyes said: “We have to make sure all football clubs are saved. There is no way any team should go under.
“It’s more of a risk in the lower leagues, we have to make sure those clubs are still there.
“There are a lot of footballers who earn a great living — but also lots who don’t.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to manage in the lower leagues and play in them. Everybody there is just as passionate about football as in the Premier League. The big clubs at the top are much more privileged.
“We have lots of money coming in from different providers. And from that point of view, we have to make sure we do the right things.
“The Premier League are big supporters of the EFL. They do support them and do put a lot of cash in already.
“At this time, it would be a real goal that we try to keep all those clubs afloat.
“They mean so much to their communities.”
Six of the top 10 wealthiest clubs in the world are in the Premier League.
West Ham are ranked 17th on the Forbes rich list — with a value of £480million.
The Premier League has advanced a £125m payment to the Football League which would have been paid in August.
Lower-league clubs rely more on gate money than the top-flight giants, who have TV cash and other big-name sponsors to help fill the coffers.
But the suspension of football has been overshadowed by rows over player pay cuts — as well as complex discussions about saving the season to avoid paying a huge rebate to TV companies.
Moyes said: “I hope football in the future will have a little reset.
“I hope we’ll all look back and think, ‘Maybe we were indulging too much’. It’s important that football clubs look at themselves.
“The people who run them have got to say, ‘Have we always been doing the right things?
‘If anything like this happened again, would we be able to get through it?’
“Maybe we have to have a good look at the prices that are being paid for players.
“We might need to look at the wages being paid.
“We might need to look at what’s been paid out to agents.
“Everybody loves football but it’s not the most important part of people’s lives at the moment.”
Moyes, 56, is in regular contact with his West Ham stars who have agreed a pay cut of around 20 per cent, while he has agreed to shave almost a third off his own wages during the fight against Covid-19.
Moyes said: “Players at West Ham have been really supportive of the club.
“There have been a lot giving big donations to charities — and we’ve also had quite a few giving money to the East London food banks.”
