IT’S CHEST INCREDIBLE
Non-leaguers bank £285,000 from rescue package... then furlough four players and make 12 new signings
NATIONAL LEAGUE club Chesterfield have placed four players on furlough – despite allowing new manager James Rowe to make 12 fresh signings.
Sunday Mirror Sport understands Milan Butterfield, David Buchanan, Luke Coddington and Scott Boden were told they are surplus to requirements at the Technique Stadium.
And when the quartet were unable to find new clubs, a decision was taken to place them on the Government furlough scheme put in place to help employers cope with the pandemic.
However, that hasn’t stopped Rowe adding to his squad in the nine weeks since he was appointed manager.
He has made a dozen new signings in a bid to improve Chesterfield’s mid-table position.
Every transfer has been ratified by the National League.
And HMRC has also confirmed that Chesterfield have not broken any rules governing how the furlough scheme is implemented.
But it does raise a question as to whether clubs should be allowed to bring players on to their payroll while using Government money to help pay squad members who no longer feature in their manager’s plans.
The four players will now have up to 80 per cent of their wages paid by the Government. A Chesterfield spokesman confirmed: “A small group of players who aren’t in the manager’s plans have been placed in furlough.
“We aren’t alone in having to furlough players in this way and we have been liaising with both the Professional Footballers’ Association and the National League.
“The situation has been partly forced on us by the fact that in normal circumstances the players would have been moved out on loan or permanently.
“Unfortunately the pandemic has prevented the normal movement of players.
“We have signed a number of players recently, but this has all been ratified by the National League.
“As for the players who have been put on furlough, we are ensuring they are being looked after properly during this difficult time.
“We place a high emphasis on the wellbeing of all our players and we are in regular contact with them to see if there is anything more we can do.”
The club have been treating at least one of the players for injury under the supervision of the players’ union, the PFA. But it is understood that at least one of the quartet has consulted a lawyer for advice on the situation.
Chesterfield has a proud history stretching back 154 years.
But the Spireites slipped out of the Football League in 2018 on the back of successive relegations.
They were awarded £285,000 in October as part of a £10million National Lottery rescue package given to the 67 clubs in the National League.
And tomorrow they will vote on a motion to decide whether to finish the season after a further £11m bail-out fund was offered as low interest loans rather than grants as part of the Government’s £300m Winter Sports Survival Package.
Chesterfield’s long-suffering supporters have largely stuck by the club, despite their fall from grace.
In December, fans of the club raised more than £12,000 inside 48 hours to help buy GPS training equipment after chairman Mike Goodwin made an appeal for £10,000.
And last week, supporters clubbed together again to pay a £250 fine levied by the FA against manager Rowe.
He had been shown a yellow card after running on to the pitch to celebrate a last-minute winner against rivals Wrexham.