‘The situation is now critical’ – Hawks director’s warning if National League season starts behind closed doors

The step 1 clubs begin their league campaign on Saturday, October 3, with the South and North seasons starting on the following Tuesday.

Hawks, due to an unequal number of clubs in the division, have a bye in the first round of games so don’t start until October 10 at home to Maidstone.

Talks are still taking place between the National League and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

A handful of pilot events are taking place in the EFL this weekend, with numbers capped at 1,000.

Brock said something similar must take place in the top two tiers of non-league football.

‘There’s no middle ground here,’ he said. ‘Clubs at our level have to have fans in or they will fold - it’s as simple as that.

‘Clubs at our level have not got massive cash reserves. They rely on their attendances and without that they will go the wall.

‘The situation is now critical - that’s the bottom line.’

Hawks and other NL clubs are lumped in with ‘elite’ sport when it comes to deciding whether fans are allowed in.

That’s why no step 1 or step 2 club have been able to play pre-season friendlies in front of crowds, but clubs at step 3 level and below have been allowed a certain number.

For example, all Wessex League clubs - at step 5 and 6 – are allowed a maximum of 300 spectators for home games, irrespective of ground capacities.

Such a blanket imposition would not work in the National League, where stadiums range from the 20,000 at Notts County to the 3,000 required for the National League South.

‘We are working in the dark,’ said Brock.

‘We have done a massive amount of work - our covid protocols stretch to pages and pages.

‘The National League need to convince the civil servants that there is a massive difference between ourselves and the EFL clubs.

‘Clubs in the EFL get £1.2m a year from the Premier League, clubs at our level get £13,000 - that’s a big difference.

‘We could probably survive longer than most, but you can’t keep on paying out money you haven’t got.’

The EFL has been anxious for supporters to return to games for the sake of clubs’ financial health.

A successful pilot was held at last week’s EFL Trophy tie between Cambridge and Fulham Under-21s, which was attended by 862 fans.

The seven EFL matches where 1,000 fans are allowed in this weekend are: Middlesbrough v Bournemouth, Norwich v Preston, Blackpool v Swindon, Charlton v Doncaster, Shrewsbury v Northampton, Forest Green v Bradford and Carlisle v Southend.

EFL chairman Rick Parry said: ‘It’s encouraging that we are in a position to move forward with the next phase of the pilot programme and give a small number of our clubs the opportunity to welcome back up to 1,000 fans this week.

‘The health and well-being of supporters and their wider communities remains the priority, but as we showed at Cambridge, social distancing can be applied safely.

‘The requirement to welcome spectators back through turnstiles has not diminished in any way.

‘The financial challenges facing EFL clubs have been explained on numerous occasions, they are substantial and a problem that requires immediate solutions.’