‘National Lottery handouts have been a godsend’ admits Hawks boss Doswell

Hawks boss Paul Doswell admits the National Lottery money his club are receiving has been a ‘godsend’.
Hawks manager Paul Doswell. Pic: Dave Haines.Hawks manager Paul Doswell. Pic: Dave Haines.
Hawks manager Paul Doswell. Pic: Dave Haines.

But the financial package is still only covering around half of the club’s monthly outgoings.

Hawks have so far received a £30,000 payment, via the National League’s £10m package of National Lottery cash, for October.

Further payments will cover November and December.

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Clubs from across tiers five and six of the English football pyramid have been left angered at how the bailout money has been shared between the 67 National League clubs.

While the Hawks are receiving the lowest sum of £30,000, seven National League clubs are collecting £95,000 with the remaining teams in the division being handed £84,000.

There are also five clubs in the sixth tier, across National Leagues South and North, banking £36,000 a month for three months – South pair Maidstone and Dulwich Hamlet and North trio Hereford, Chester and York City.

Doswell revealed the money the Hawks have been allocated has left chairman Derek Pope having to make up the difference to cover bills and wages.

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‘As far as we’re concerned - whilst we felt it was disproportionate the amount of money that went to some National League clubs and North and South - and we weren’t happy with how it was split, ultimately the £30,000 we’ve got has been a godsend,' said Doswell.

‘Without it we would have been really struggling to start the season.

‘We’re probably at half, or just over half, of what our wage bill is.

‘We were under the impression that we would have got more on the back of having crowds of nearly 1,500 last season.

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‘We didn’t understand how Boreham Wood, who get 600, could get £54,000-plus more than us.

‘It’s been difficult for us to understand at times but, ultimately, this grant that we’ve had - and before that the furlough - has made a big difference to us being able to keep going.

‘Thankfully, we’ve got a very generous chairman who does make up the difference.'

Hawks have also benefited financially from reaching the second round of the FA Cup. Victory at Marine next Sunday will take their overall sum from this season’s tournament to just over £110,000.

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In addition to paying wages and bills, Hawks will also have to pay - at some point - a fee for strikers Tommy Wright and Joe Iaciofano.

Both transfers will be settled by a tribunal, with no right of appeal - whatever fees the tribunal set, Hawks will have to pay them.

The fee for Wright, who was signed from Sutton United, will almost certainly be higher than the fee Hawks will have to pay St Albans for Iaciofano.

That is due to the fact Wright spent five years at Sutton, while Iaciofano was only at St Albans for a season after being released by Northampton Town.

No dates have yet been set for either tribunal as Hawks continue talks with both Sutton and St Albans.