Club feel assurances were made on grants
Football: Adams: ‘A promise was there and now it’s been taken away’
CEO Jon Adams believes National League clubs were given assurances by the league's board and Government that further grant support would be in place while matches were being played behind closed doors.
The Magpies, like many clubs, agreed to kick off the season under the assumption they’d be supported while fans weren’t allowed into York Road, and a £10m grant from the National Lottery – which was distributed between all of the clubs – went a long way towards covering their costs for the first three months of the season.
However, many clubs now feel the Government has shifted the goalposts slightly by offering the second amount of financial aid in the form of loans rather than grants.
Many National League clubs have this week thrown their weight behind a petition calling on the Government to provide additional support in the form of grants or ‘risk a catastrophic and perilous situation’ for clubs.
Clubs can apply for a grant from Government, but only if they can prove their future is in imminent risk or demonstrate that taking on a loan would be unaffordable. The sports minister Nigel Huddleston said last week that grant support wasn’t promised to clubs for the whole season. He said it was ‘untrue to suggest funding for the National League was ever promised as all grants, and they have been unable to substantiate that claim’.
Maidenhead may not have evidence to the contrary, but Adams certainly felt the club was provided with assurances that further grants would be forthcoming.
“Different clubs have different expectations in terms of what we thought we would be getting in terms of funding,” he said. “We’re no different in that we thought we had been provided with the assurance that grant funding would continue for the second half of the season.
“Clearly that’s troublesome for all of us. Some of us feel more strongly that’s it’s necessary to continue the fight, and we’ve published the petition on our website because we do feel the promise was there and now it’s been taken away.
“But once the decision has been taken to pursue and continue to complete the league, I think teams will fall behind that and get on with things.”
Despite being less than enamoured by the prospect of taking on a loan, Maidenhead chairman
Peter Griffin said last week the club would consider one if it meant they could play on to the end of the season and the alternative was cancelling the league and declaring it null and void. The Magpies want the opportunity to finish off what’s turning into a very promising campaign, and Adams is hopeful a decision on what’s going to happen next will be taken very soon. They will continue to lobby the league to push for further aid from Government but will wait first for a decision from the league over what’s happening with the season.
“We’ve already returned our voting sheets,” he said. “Other clubs will do that today (Tuesday) or in the next couple of days.
Some clubs have asked for there to be a delay for a week or so to consider the continued influence of Government with regards to getting further grant aid.
“Our view is that we can continue with that discussion and the lobbying, but it doesn’t change the need for a decision to be made. It’s easier to plan when you know what you’re planning for, rather than having this continued uncertainty. We’ve put in our votes and I would expect that we’ll have more clarity by the end of the week as to the direction of travel for both leagues.”
Adams expects most National League clubs to fall in line with Maidenhead’s stance, and for the season to continue as planned. He expects that clubs in the North
and South divisions to vote to terminate their campaigns, but he acknowledges it’s not an easy decision for clubs to make, given the financial commitments many of them will have in place.
“The clubs have been put in a difficult situation,” he said. “Whatever you do might be wrong. You’ve just got to make a judgement based on where you’re at, and the reality is that most clubs have contracted players and the majority of them are also full time.
“The majority of our players are contracted through to the end of May, and those commitments are in place. Cancelling the league doesn’t take away from the commitments you have to your employees, your players and your staff. If you stop the season entirely you stop all revenue coming into the club.
“If you stop you could access some furlough funding, but that’s currently only available until the end of April, it may not cover longer-term requirements.
“We’ve also had very few home games so far, and we’ve still got to play some of the bigger clubs at York Road so that will produce some streaming revenue for us. We’ve also got our 150th anniversary game on February 16 against Stockport County and we would very much like to broaden the appeal for watching that and participating in that game. It’s a balancing act, but you’ve got to maintain your business.”