National League chairman: ‘It’s crazy to expect the Government to give us £20m to help us survive without crowds’

Dagenham & Redbridge managing director Steve Thompson yesterday called for a £15-20million rescue package to help the 67 clubs across the three divisions of the National League survive.

That was after the Government pressed the pause button on pilot events aimed at getting supporters back into ‘elite’ sports stadia by October 1.

The National League is due to start two days later, with Hawks playing their opening South game against Maidstone at Westleigh Park on October 10.

‘I can’t keep listening to people saying the Government have to bail us out,’ said Boreham Wood chairman Danny Hunter.

‘There is one London chairman (Thompson) who says the Government have to give us £15-20million to bail us out.

‘You can’t do that and then pay a striker £2,500 a week and then think the Government is going to bail you out.

‘That is just crazy. We all have to cut our cloth accordingly.

‘You can’t spend huge on budgets and then complain you’ve got no money, you all know what you’re doing.’

With the National League and North and South divisions falling into that ‘elite’ category, the options for starting the season now come down to starting behind closed doors - with matches being streamed - or for it to be suspended until fans can return.

Kettering Town owner Ritchie Jeune is backing the second option.

Jeune, whose club play in the North division, said: ‘My personal opinion is that they will suspend the league until we can have fans back.

‘That’s the only rational thing for them to do.

‘There is the streaming option but not everyone wants to watch a game on a stream. We have streamed before and, although we were successful with it, the only real guarantee you have is your season ticket holders.

‘We can’t run a season just based on our season ticket money, it requires more than that.

‘But I don’t see any other choice unless there is some sort of Government support but, again, I am not sure how the Government can afford to do that.

‘It’s not just us, it’s sports like rugby and others.’

Earlier in the summer, National League South and North clubs like Hawks and York City argued that because they paid their players step 2 should be included under the ‘elite’ sport umbrella.

They got their way and, as a result, the play-offs were allowed to take place behind closed doors.

Now, though, the ruling is penalising the South and North clubs who are being lumped in with clubs five divisions above them in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, in the leagues below at step 3, spectators are allowed in.

Jeune said: ‘The whole ‘we’re elite’, which is something Kettering as a club never agreed that we are elite at the level we’re at, has come back to bite people on the butt.’

One person who is calling on the Government to act is Shadow Sports Minister Alison McGovern.

‘Labour warned the Government over the summer that many sports clubs were teetering on the edge due to loss of ticket sales,’ she said.

‘While we support the measures to control the virus and save lives, the Government need to plan to make sure no one loses a much-loved sports club just because of Covid-19.’

That warning is made more pertinent following the winding up of Macclesfield Town - an EFL club last season - a few weeks ago in the High Court.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden, met with representatives from a wide range of sports on Tuesday afternoon to hold further talks on the financial impact of the restrictions.

It is understood DCMS is keen to move quickly to identify areas where there is critical need, but remains of the view that the Premier League should provide support to the EFL and the National League.

The Premier League advanced its £125m annual solidarity payment to clubs back in April. But of that amount, National League South clubs such as Hawks only receive around £13,500.

The EFL says its 72 clubs stand to lose £200million without fans for the entirety of the 2020-21 season, with club chairmen saying on Tuesday they expected clubs to go under without immediate action.

Talks are continuing between the bodies over a possible bailout, but the Premier League has pointed out that the lack of fans is starting to have a ‘devastating’ impact on the finances of its own clubs.

But clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham can still afford to pay superstars like Pierre Aubameyang and Gareth Bale hundreds of thousands of pounds a week ...