Morecambe have been blocked from bringing in fresh faces after crowds dropped dramatically.
With average gates dropping 25% at Christie Park, the club have fallen foul of the League's wage capping rules. The mid-season review of budgets saw the club, using the lower attendance figures, go over the allowed 60% of turnover to be spent on wages.
The rules are only mandatory to League Two, a point not lost on Shrimps' vice-chairman Graham Hodgson who told the BBC: "It's mandatory in our division, but if it was such a fantastic idea then you would suggest it should be compulsory in at least all three Football League divisions.
"From an average last season of 2,800 to around 2,100 this season, that amounts to an awful lot of money. When we do our budgets at Christmas it has to be reflected, and effectively reduces the amount of money we're allowed to spend on wages. Clearly you can't just cancel contracts or get rid of wages, so the only way the Football League can control it is to put an embargo on you.
"It's a subject we debated quite vociferously at the Football League AGM this year. It shouldn't be a voluntary code in League One but mandatory in League Two, so it should be consistent throughout the leagues."
If the rules were mandatory in League One Walsall may have been looking nervously over their shoulder having seen gates drop 20% from last season, while other League Two sides may find themselves in the same boat as Morecambe. The likes of Chester, Darlington, Bournemouth, and Gillingham have seen drops of around 20% from last season's gates.