Sugar: Football boom time is over

"I agree with Greg Dyke who said we have seen the last of it really."

Despite his forecast he says clubs won't ever learn and will just carry on spending what they have got until the money runs out.

He added: "While clubs are enjoying the benefits of the current TV deal I fear that most of them will spend the money and structure their clubs in such a way that their expectations for that revenue to continue beyond this deal will still be there and that's why they may run into trouble.

"What goes in at one end comes out the other. If a club gets £25m from TV it will spend £25m on players' wages. The following year when clubs have only got, say £10m, you have still got the wage structure from the previous year which you can no longer afford.

"I have been speaking with a couple of chairmen who share that view but they are still conducting negotiations with players who they might not be able to afford in two to three years time.

"At the moment, clubs in the Premiership get an average of £20m a season. I cannot see that being the case in two to three years' time and clubs like Leeds, who have spent a hell of a lot of money and not achieved anything yet, and Chelsea, who are in debt, could be creating a monster for themselves .

"Ken Bates (the Chelsea chairman) says it is under control. He is a shrewd man and I suppose he says that because he knows he hasn't got to pay it back for seven or eight years. But with that sort of debt I'm sure he's coming to the conclusion that he has to start cutting his cloth."

The Football League is facing a battle to retrieve the £178m it is owed by ITV Digital, which is now in the hands of administrators Deloitte and Touche.

League officials plan a meeting with other creditors of the collapsed broadcaster this week to discuss their next step.

Parent companies, who are the biggest creditors with more than £800m owing, say they are not liable for ITV Digital's debts.

The Football League says that is not true and are prepared to sue them for £500m if ITV Digital's administrators turn ITV Digital off thus breaching the contract with the league.

Other major creditors include Sky, which receives £60 to £70m a year for allowing its programmes to be broadcast on ITV Digital.