ACT QUICKLY AND VOID SEASON IF NON-LEAGUE CAN’T HAVE FANS

A MESSAGE to the powers that be: if tough decisions are to be made on coronavirus, please do not lock non-League fans out and make us finish the season without them. At Dulwich Hamlet, and for many of our rivals in the sixth tier, it would actually be better if the season was voided completely if it ever comes to those really hard choices. It’s one or the other: carry on with fans if safe or don’t finish the season. The alternative is pointless and financially disastrous. If there are no fans inside Champion Hill, we will haemorrhage money every week. You’re looking at losses of £30,000 a game. That is before you take into account the risk placed upon players and staff if we were to stage games behind closed doors — should the situation escalate that supporters cannot attend. The key here is swift, decisive action. In the past there were too many late changes to the schedule at short notice. Last season, we were fined £8,000 for failing to fulfil four fixtures in February and the season was declared void anyway. The club had £836.55 in the bank account. Do these people not realise how much £8,000 is worth to us? We cannot have the same problems again.