Lichties’ lights staying on amid cash worries

Arbroath are already counting the cost of the decision to suspend football because of the coronavirus crisis.

The Championship Red Lichties were due to face Inverness at Gayfield today but with the game postponed, a sold-out hospitality has had to be cancelled.

The part-time Angus club were also starting to look forward to a lucrative home double-header with the two Dundee sides.

League leaders United were due later this month with the Dark Blues set to visit on April 18.

Those home games and others are now in doubt – however Arbroath chairman Mike Caird said the club fully backed the decision to suspend football in this country.

He said: “We are just trying to digest everything at the moment.

“We were all prepared for the Inverness game. We had a sell-out 150 hospitality but that has had to be cancelled as well.

“We will have a board meeting on Saturday just to get our heads together. We haven’t had anything so far from the league apart from the announcement and hopefully there will be more news next week.

“We have to take government advice and the health and safety of supporters is paramount.

“It is understandable what has happened but obviously we have no idea how long this is going to last.”

While Arbroath will suffer financially, Caird is sure there will be no cash crisis at Gayfield.

The chairman added: “Like all the clubs, the postponements will cause us cashflow problems. However, what I would say is that we have always been financially prudent so we will manage. There is no issue with that.

“Hopefully the games will be played at some point. We were looking forward to a big game against Dundee United with up to 4,000 fans and a sold-out hospitality on a Friday night.

“Who knows if that will go ahead and we also have Dundee at Gayfield in April.

“We will maybe have to see if they can extend the season to slot in these games.

“It is very disappointing as all our hospitality was sold out until the end of the season so we were looking forward to a great end to the campaign and hopefully consolidating our position in the Championship.

“It is all up in the air but it is the right decision and is for the benefit of everyone.

“This has never happened before so we will just have to wait and see what develops.”

Lichties chairman Mike Caird.