Clubs could pull Plug on season
Maidenhead United FC: Griffin says United are in limbo as funding
Maidenhead United chairman Peter Griffin has said the club's season is in limbo, and he's uncertain what will happen next, as fears grow the season could be scrapped amid discontent over funding for clubs.
Griffin and CEO Jon Adams will join a Zoom meeting with the National League this week for a further discussion on what will happen next with the Government seemingly standing firm over its decision to issue further financial aid in loans rather than grants.
Clubs were able to kick off the campaign in October thanks to a special, one-off £10m grant from the National Lottery, but the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has said it was wrong of clubs to assume that all aid this season would come in grant form.
The National League North and South divisions have already been suspended, and it seems there’s a majority of clubs at that level who would rather see the campaign ended early than play on with only loans for support. The situation is slightly less clear for National League Premier clubs, with Griffin saying he expected the bigger clubs would fight for the season to continue as planned behind closed doors.
Although not ideal, he also said the Magpies
would consider taking on a loan to tide them over for the next few months until fans are able to return to York Road.
Yesterday (Wednesday) the Government confirmed that clubs at steps 1-2 would only be supported by long-term loans, unless they could prove their imminent future was at risk or they could demonstrate that loans were unaffordable.
Speaking earlier this week, ahead of the second meeting with the league, Griffin said: “We’ll have to wait and see what happens. I guess we’re unlikely to get anything as a grant, so it’s going to be a loan or nothing, but we have to wait and see how it goes.
“I suspect the majority of clubs (in the National League Premier) will want to carry on regardless, while the majority of those in the North and South wanted it to stop to see if funding could be arranged.
“We didn’t want to suspend the league and restart, because we felt that if you stop it, that could be that. There’s a real danger that will be the case for the North and South clubs, but they’ve taken that decision knowing it could be the case.”
He added: “We don’t feel that taking out a loan is particularly helpful. It’s storing up debt for another day and that was the feedback echoed by many.
“The league also offered to take a loan from the DCMS and administer it as a grant to be paid back out of future solidarity payments from the league. That was also knocked back, because it would be like taking out a loan anyway.
“We’re now waiting to hear more. The National League has a meeting with the DCMS today (Monday), but we’ve had no formal communication about the outcome of that. We’re in limbo but there does seem to be a resolve from the clubs for the league to carry on. We’ll find out in the coming days, but it’s a bit of an unknown.”
The club has already asked MP Theresa May to lobby the DCMS on its behalf, but it seems likely this pressure will be in vain and clubs will have to decide whether they can stomach playing on this season with loans rather than grants for support.
The loans would be long-term and low interest, but, having taken the club onto a firmer financial footing in recent years, Griffin is loathed to saddle the club with further debt.
“The league knows our collective views,” added Griffin. “Once the definitive options are there, and they’re being narrowed down each time there’s a vote or a discussion, we can take a vote.
“There’s still a chance they may say it’s the end of the season, if clubs say they can’t go on like this. I do think that’s less likely than us carrying on though.
“If we can get grant money to go alongside the loan that would be very welcome. It’s not looking great, but we were grateful for the grant money we received before Christmas and that has kept us on an even keel. At the moment we keep going, it was lovely to get back to playing on Saturday and fingers crossed we can get something across the line from Government for the league to continue.
“It’s an unprecedented situation and if one or two clubs say they’re not going to carry on, it would be very hard to see what sanctions could be taken against them. I’d have sympathy with that situation, but I’d like it to carry on myself.”
W There was, however, some good news for clubs at non-league steps 3-6, with the DCMS announcing that £10m would be available in grant support.
This should benefit the likes of Marlow, Flackwell Heath, Windsor, Burnham and Holyport, who haven’t played since before Christmas and are likely to see their seasons declared null and void for a second season running. Clubs will be able to apply for a grant from today (Thursday).