‘Clubs’ survival under threat’
SEVERAL of Scotland’s leading clubs face going out of business due to the indefinite suspension of domestic football unless they receive urgent emergency funding from the SFA and SPFL, it was last night claimed.
The Joint SFA and SPFL coronavirus response group last night issued an update after SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and president Rod Petrie took part in a UEFA videoconference call yesterday morning.
Maxwell confirmed the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals – which were scheduled to be played between Aberdeen and Celtic and Hearts and Hibernian at Hampden next month – have been postponed. However, the joint response group, who are waiting to receive further information from a UEFA working group, was unable to give any indication when the Scottish Cup, Ladbrokes Premiership or other senior leagues would be able to resume.
And Kieran Maguire, a lecturer in football finance at the University of Liverpool, warned the absence of matchday income will have drastic repercussions for cash-strapped clubs in this country in the coming weeks.
The joint response group revealed on Monday that SPFL payments to their member clubs would be made as normal next month and the SFA were examining if future distribution monies could be handed out in advance. But Ann Budge, the Hearts owner, yesterday revealed the shutdown had already left a £1m void in the Tynecastle club’s finances.
Budge, whose 75.1-per-cent shareholding was due to be transferred to the Foundation of Hearts imminently, had budgeted for an income of £500,000 from four upcoming home fixtures and expected the club to bank the same amount from the semi-final.
“In the blink of an eye, £1m that we anticipated having as income in April has gone,” she said.
“That has a huge impact on any club. All clubs will have similar problems, maybe not to the same extent, but that’s money we thought we would have that we won’t have. Add to that the fact that we’ve spent a lot on infrastructure.”
Maguire said: “The longer it drags on and the longer there are no more matches this season the more potential damage it can do to individual clubs.
“I can’t see how individual clubs can survive with no money coming in from the second week in March until August.”