The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Closed door matches ‘a disaster’
Raith Rovers chairman Bill Clark concedes being forced to play their remaining League One matches behind closed doors would have severe financial implications for the club.
The worsening coronavirus crisis has led to Scotland’s First Minster Nicola Sturgeon recommending the cancellation of mass gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday.
Clark is also gravely concerned that the SPFL could effectively call an end to the season at any given point, especially since Rovers are only one point clear of Falkirk at the summit ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Peterhead.
Clark admits the financial cost of playing their remaining four matches in front of an empty Stark’s Park would be huge.
He said: “For us the biggest problem is going to be the financial hit that we’re going to take. If we moved to close doors that is a disaster for us.
“We would take a huge financial hit if we were having to play behind closed doors, and even worse if they decide to guillotine the leagues.
“If games are postponed and they’re played later then fair enough but given where we are at the top of the league just now, and with fierce competition at the top of the League One, my worry is that if they decide to bring down the guillotine on the leagues, what are we going to do with League One?
“The others ones are all pretty straightforward because you have clear leaders.
“As far as naming winners is concerned, we’re top today but we just have to lose one game and we could find we lose the league even though we’ve been top for something like 21 weeks out of 28.”
The SPFL has already said that there is no money to bail out clubs should the rest of the season be played in empty stadia.
However, Clark hopes the league body would distribute league prize money. Last season’s League One winner, Arbroath, received £125,000, while second place Forfar were handed £107,500.
Clark added: “We have no cash reserves, although the thing we hope first of all is that the SPFL might advance payments which we would normally get at the end of the season.
“If they brought even part of that forward then I think it would help all of the clubs in leagues one and two.
“The other thing we are hoping is that HMRC might allow us to delay paying VAT and things like that. These are massive bills we have to pay quarterly and we could be in a bit of trouble.”
Cowdenbeath finance director David Allan admits the Blue Brazil, who are currently fourth in League Two, would also face severe financial hardship should the remainder of the campaign be played behind closed doors.
He said: “We are concerned about it and we’re waiting to see how it goes. It could be very difficult for clubs like ourselves.
“We’re totally sold out in hospitality for our remaining four home games and if we lose that it’s a big chunk for us. That would be the real big impact for us.
“If you went closed doors, that could really be quite damaging, as well as the gate money, of course.
“Cash flow is already difficult for clubs such as ours, especially at this point of the season.
“We’d have to work out how we fund it, sometimes it depends on whether our directors want to keep dipping into their pockets. Or do the fans want to contribute?
“At the moment we’re working on a cash flow according to the existing budget so if you make it worse then there are implications for how you fund that.”