Clubs warned over 'financial abyss' of debt crisis

The former England coach Tony Smith has welcomed a damning report that claims Super League clubs are on the edge of "a financial abyss".

Sports finance specialist Rob Wilson, from Sheffield Hallam University, has revealed that 11 of the 14 top-flight clubs have combined debts of more than £60m. The new season starts on Friday without a main sponsor and in the last six months Bradford and Salford have both teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

Smith's employers, Warrington, are in rude health but he accepts there are problems in the game. "I think anybody involved in the game and certainly anybody who earns a living out of the game cares about it. It's been my sport all my life and I want it to be the best it can be."