THE effects of the recession are insidiously creeping up the football ladder and there's no telling where it will end.

Already in the Blue Square Premier the current financial crisis has left many clubs striving just to survive.

Salisbury, Northwich Victoria and Grays Athletic have all been rocked by the recession with sponsors and investers alike pulling out because of it.

Weymouth are the latest and biggest victims to be hit by it and with their senior squad quitting it seems that the Terras' existence is hanging by the thinnest of threads.

These problems are not just confined to non-league football, they are steadily climbing up the ladder like a financial virus.

Jim Gannon has came out this week saying that his position as Stockport County manager has become untenable because of the cash crisis at the club and they aren't the only ones.

Clubs in League One and Two are all braced for small crowds next season, which will have a detrimental effect on the balance sheet, and this trend seems ready to hit the Championship, the question is when will it stop?

In theory the Premier League should be more protected from the approaching financial storm, with the abundance of overseas investment and huge revenues generated from television.

If that's the case it would certainly be a good PR enterprise for them to wade in and save the clubs lower down from the going out of business.

Of course, this sounds far too altruistic for the top flight, who seem happier to look after themselves and their closed market, but in the long run it may not just save the sport's soul but the game itself.

Because if the worse happens and the American, Russian and Middle Eastern money men leave then they may need the Football League and FA to help them out.