BAIL US OUT
Scottish football to ask politicians for help in filling £50m shortfall
THE SFA AND SPFL are preparing a plea for a financial bail-out from the Scottish Government after plans for the return of fans to grounds were put back on hold.
Scottish clubs face a financial black hole of £50million after Nicola Sturgeon announced a new package of Covid-19 restrictions which could see supporters locked out of stadia for up to six months.
Fears of a temporary postponement to the football season as part of a coronavirus ‘circuit breaker’ failed to materialise, although such measures haven’t been ruled out in future.
Speaking as the average number of daily cases in Scotland rose to 285, however, the First Minister once again pushed back an indicative date of October 5 for the return of spectators to live sporting events. Aberdeen
and Ross County recently hosted pilot events to test the return of 300 fans to games in the SPFL Premiership.
Plans for larger test events have now been shelved, however.
And with fears growing that fans could be locked out of grounds for six months, Scottish football chiefs will await the outcome of horse-trading between England’s Premier League and the UK Government over financial assistance before making their pitch to Scottish Sports Minister Joe FitzPatrick.
With proposals for the return of fans to English grounds on October 1 also on hold, Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed plans to help sports badly affected by the loss of gate income.
While Westminster believes that help for cash-strapped football clubs down south should come from Premier League sides, however, a UEFA benchmark report from 2018 showed that
Scottish clubs are three times more dependent on gate income than bigger European leagues.
And the SPFL believe that public assistance for football down south would strengthen their case for help for a hand-out from the devolved Holyrood administration.
An SPFL source last night estimated that the prolonged absence of fans from Scottish grounds could cost clubs between £40m to £50m. League chiefs were yesterday seeking clarification of the Scottish Government’s current stance on the return of fans before deciding their next move.
Adopting a more bullish approach, the English Premier League said in a statement: ‘Football is not the same without attending fans and the football economy is unsustainable without them. Last season, Premier League clubs suffered £700m in losses and at present, our national game is losing more than £100m per month. This is starting to have a devastating impact on clubs and their communities.
‘We are confident that Premier League clubs, using innovative ways to get supporters safely back into grounds, will enable revenues to return to all levels of the game, as well as maintain solidarity arrangements, current tax contributions and financial support for local and national economies.
‘While there is a current pause in a date for fans returning to sports venues, the Premier League and our clubs will not slow down in our preparations for providing safe, bio-secure environments. We will continue to work with Government to bring supporters safely back into grounds as soon as possible.’
MP Steve Brine, a member of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, said fans would ‘probably have to sacrifice this year’ following the prime minister’s warning that the new restrictions will last for six months.
Mr Brine told talkSPORT: ‘As much as we love it, as much as we may enjoy going to live sport, it is not essential and it is the social contact that we are probably going to have to sacrifice this year.
‘There was a possibility of getting some fans back and in big football stadiums you can socially distance quite well with your best season ticket holders but it is not about that. It is about getting to the ground and all the different services around. It is the social interaction which as much as we may love it, is not essential.’
Speaking last night, Scotland’s national clinical director, Professor Jason Leitch, said that the phased return of fans has been ‘paused’.
The government advisor accepts that the decision will be a massive setback for, particularly, football and rugby clubs.
Asked about test events in sport, Leitch (below) said: ‘We’re pausing the plan. We’ve managed to have safe return of elite sport and now contact sports for kids and adults.
‘So, we’re not stopping that, with all the other safety measures in place. Those things can go ahead, as long as there’s Covid officers and things in place. ‘What we’re pausing is any progression to more opening. That doesn’t seem the right thing to do, when we are restricting people in their own households and restricting hospitality so severely, to start to think about opening stadia. ‘But we’re reviewing that every three weeks. We’re not ruling it out, but we’re pausing that opening.’
It doesn’t seem right to start to think about opening stadia just now