PLAYING ON ISN’T ONLY ABOUT THE INTEGRITY...

Eastbourne Borough chairman DAVID BLACKMORE on the campaign for Step 2 clubs to continue playing

THE mood at the moment is frustrated but hopeful. What we’re hoping is we can have a sporting outcome to this that is agreed by everybody.

There’s a lot of people saying how clubs have taken legal action, what’s happened is we’ve had legal advice on the position which is only right and proper.

It would be wrong to say that clubs want to take legal action. That said, we don’t believe putting it out to a vote in that manner was the right or correct way of doing things and we don’t actually believe it was lawful or constitutional.

Now that sounds very legal but, actually, all we are saying is we should be looking after the interests of the clubs that do want to play football in the same way we’re looking after the interests of clubs who don’t.

I’ve just resubmitted my figures to Sport England for a loan based on the null-and-void decision. Our figures will be worse if we stop playing than they were when playing. It depends on what your model is and how you’re financing your business.

We’ve got sponsors who are now saying they need to roll over their sponsorship for the six months they’re not getting now.

I’ve spoken to more club chairmen than I ever have. I understand different operating models better than I ever did before.

Last week, we took a load of NHS care packages to staff and we paid for that through streaming a game.

During half-term coming up we would have liked to have been putting on free school meals and we had plans for meal packages for homeless people in the town. We may not be able to do that because the season is null and void, we want to carry on because we want to play football but also our community work.

I feel the National League jumped the gun on the vote.

I feel they listened to the noise and the negative rhetoric coming out and they could have gone out and started talking to the clubs individually.

We have been fully supportive of everything that has gone on this season and we even came out publicly in The NLP to back the National League board over the funding debate. I cannot help but think the agenda with this vote was purely to protect Step 1 at all costs.

For the integrity of the league we have to try and find a way for there to be promotion and relegation out of the National League. We’re not in normal times where everyone has to play under the same rules. You’ve got to look for innovative ways to carry on and do what we do which is play football.

For there to be any way forward something has got to happen in the next ten days.

If we’re going to be back playing football we probably need to be back by next weekend.

Sadly, I’m not sure the wheels of democracy tend to work that quickly though.