League of Ireland clubs will demand specific information and financial guarantees from the FAI before agreeing to restart the 2020 season.

A US-based firm has expressed an interest in live-streaming League of Ireland fixtures but it will take a mammoth financial contribution from Fifa for the 2020 season to resume behind closed doors.

Stephen McGuinness says gambling has reached such distressing proportions in League of Ireland dressing rooms, that the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFAI) had to pay for a player’s child’s Christmas presents last year.

After what director Fran Gavin described as “several years of recession”, it seems the Airtricity League is set to feel the first stirrings of the economic recovery with the news that the prize fund has been increased this season, from €315,500 to €475,500.