Top football players are paid like film stars. But in the wider game there is far less money to go round and many teams have come close to collapse.

Over the past decade, more than 30 professional clubs have entered administration – a process that gives troubled businesses protection from creditors while they restructure or seek new investment. Most recently, as the UK nears the end of its current football season, administrators have been appointed at Gretna of the Scottish Premier League and Rotherham United of England’s League Two.